SAN DIEGO — An Uber driver is speaking out after his frightening encounter with spewing water and debris that damaged his car while driving Sunday through Interstate 5 near Balboa Park after a water main break.

The 24-inch concrete and steel reinforced water main burst around 6:50 p.m. onto the State Route 163 transition to the Interstate 5 freeway, shooting water and dangerous debris into the air and at oncoming traffic. 

“We got blown up by basically three or four hundred pounds of pressure and projectiles of dirt flying at my car,” Uber driver Francisco Jauregui said.

While driving his Uber passengers for a date night in Little Italy, Jauregui described a softball-sized piece of “concrete/dirt” blew out his windshield and another projectile went right through the passenger side of the car. Their night ended up in the hospital after a very close call and all were emotionally shaken by the incident, however, he said no one was injured.

As for Jauregui, he’s still just trying to understand what happened to him.  

“The safety glass stopped it, but that whole windshield caved in and you could see about a softball-sized impact spot heading right towards me,” he said.  

The 66-year-old pipe gave out and the amount of water that flowed out for 18 hours may have caused the hill to have lost some of its integrity, according to city engineers.

Meanwhile, Jauregui says he’s focused on trying to get his car and his job back under control. 

“Yeah, it’s water under the bridge, literally,” he said.