Extraordinary vision has captured the moment a woman was swallowed by an electrical manhole on a busy Gold Coast footpath after an underground explosion yesterday afternoon.

The first of several blasts caused the manhole on Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise to blow open as the woman walked into its path yesterday evening, temporarily trapping her.

The woman, aged in her 20s, miraculously escaped with minor injuries just moments before a second fireball blast erupted from below ground.

Police declared an emergency around Cavill Avenue, Elkhorn Avenue, The Esplanade and Surfers Paradise Boulevard about 6.15pm (7.15pm AEDT) yesterday.

The explosion sent tourists and locals on the busy tourist strip running for their lives.

"I looked at my kids and said 'just run! Let's go to Dad'," witness Antonietta Bergamin said.

"My heart was beating so much, I was petrified."

Laurie Tomlinson said he was working nearby when he heard the first explosion go off and, along with another man, rushed over to help the injured woman.

"As we lay her down, the second one goes off in my ear, everyone scatters," he told 9news.com.au.

"Eventually I go back to work and then 30 to 45 minutes later, the second two go off and yeah, that's when we all evacuated."

An exclusion zone was put in place and anyone within the area was asked to remain indoors until further notice.

The declaration was revoked about an hour and a half later but police said reduced road closures remained, along with limited pedestrian access on Cavill Avenue and Orchid Avenue.

Energex is investigating the cause of the electrical fault, which at this stage remains a mystery.

Police don't believe there is a risk to the community anymore, but admit it's not something they've ever seen.

"I've asked a few of the long-termers and they haven't heard of anything like this," Queensland Police superintendent Peter Miles said.

"It could have easily turned into a catastrophic event but thankfully it didn't."

Olympic swimming legend Dawn Fraser has been rushed to hospital after a serious fall at her Queensland home.

Her family told 9News they thought they were going to lose the 87-year-old.

She was rushed to hospital and admitted to intensive care after falling at her Noosa house on Wednesday, breaking four ribs and a hip.

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Fraser has since been taken out of intensive care and is on the road to recovery, her daughter has told 9News.

Swimming Australia CEO Rob Woodhouse said the family had told him Fraser was stable in hospital.

"Dawn is an Australian living treasure – an icon of our sport – and we wish her a speedy, healthy and fully recovery," he said in a statement.

Fraser won eight Olympic medals, six British Empire and Commonwealth gold medals and set 23 individual world records and 12 as part of a team.

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She might be in her 80s but she is still mentoring up-and-coming young swimmers.

A few months ago she was poolside cheering on the Olympic swimming stars before they headed to Paris.

Powerful booms have been heard from the west to the south.

The Samoan Government has implemented a precautionary zone.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden says disruption should have consequences.

Emergency services were called to the address at 5.25pm.

Their comments come as a man is jailed for three years.

A man was elbowed and punched during a late-night scuffle with Melbourne Storm star Shawn Blore and his brother, a court has been told.

The alleged target of the assault, Naaman Mikhael, 31, who was also accused of affray over the incident, had the charge dismissed on mental health grounds on Monday after a magistrate heard he did not start the violence.

Both Shawn, 24 and Dean Blore, 26, have pleaded not guilty to an affray charge following the alleged melee outside a Lebanese restaurant on Sydney's Little Hunter Street shortly after 2.30am on July 7.

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The violence started after Mikhael was asked to leave the restaurant for acting aggressively towards another person, Downing Centre Local Court was told.

Outside, he was singled out by the Blore brothers while several other unrelated skirmishes took place around the group, the 31-year-old's lawyer George Thomas said.

"The event has started with people pointing at him and saying words to the effect of 'that's him, that's him'," Thomas said.

CCTV footage of the incident showed "multiple skirmishes between different groups of people" taking place outside the restaurant, the lawyer added.

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He described the footage as "quite extraordinary to watch".

"In that context [Mikhael] was set upon," Thomas said.

"He has very little recollection of the events. He was concussed, in shock."

Thomas said his client was elbowed and then punched, prompting him to take off his shirt and lift a bollard from outside the restaurant above his head.

Magistrate Jennifer Price accepted that the prosecution case indicated Mikhael did not instigate the violence and initially at least might have been acting in self-defence.

"A scuffle has broken out between about 15 people," she said.

"The facts indicate the co-accused stood over the applicant and assaulted him.

"It certainly appears he has come off worse for wear initially."

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The Blore brothers grabbed Mikhael by the collar and one of them appeared to forcibly push an elbow into his jaw after they were seen "aggressively standing in each other's faces and arguing", the court was told.

The 31-year-old ended up on the ground, after which he was allegedly punched again before responding by grabbing the bollard.

"He doesn't appear to have been the initiator of the physical violence and doesn't appear to have been the main player in terms of it unfolding," Price said.

The magistrate granted an application to dismiss the charge against Mikhael, instead placing him into the care of a mental health professional.

Both Blore brothers' matters are due to return to court in August.

Shawn Blore was swapped to the Storm from previous team Wests Tigers before the 2024 NRL season.

A US woman who flew to Australia with a gold-plated pistol in her luggage has been sentenced to a year in jail, despite claiming she brought it with her for protection.

Liliana Goodson pleaded guilty to charges of illegally importing an unauthorised firearm and illegally importing ammunition.

Today, the 30-year-old was sentenced in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court to the 12-month jail term, of which four months will be served in full-time custody.

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Goodson was taken into custody immediately following the hearing and forced to remove her extensive jewellery before being handcuffed and led from the court.

She was initially arrested at Sydney Airport in April 2023, after customs officers uncovered the 24-carat gold-plated pistol, worth about $3000, in her luggage.

The court was previously told she had come to Australia to attend clown school and claimed she brought the gun for protection.

Goodson had searched online whether she was allowed to bring the weapon into Australia, despite telling officers at the time she forgot she had it with her.

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When asked at the airport if she was carrying any prohibited items with her Goodson claimed she was not, the court was told.

"What about the gun in your bag?" she was asked by a customs officer.

Goodson replied: "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

A review of Goodson's phone revealed she had searched online "can I have a gun in my suitcase?" and set a calendar entry with a note reminding her to "put gun in suitcase".

Magistrate Susan Horan said there was a strong need to deter others from committing similar offences in the future, which could only be achieved by way of a period of incarceration.

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"Australia has a strong stance against firearms," she said.

Prosecutors submitted earlier that the gun looks particularly confronting and would "terrify members of the community", which Horan agreed with.

Goodson told police she was actually "scared" of shooting the gun and hoped simply producing it would be enough to deter potential threats.

"If that didn't do it I would probably just pistol whip," Goodson was quoted as having said.

When asked where she planned to store the gun while she was in Australia, she indicated under a vehicle's passenger seat, the court was told.

The court was told in recent years, Goodson was using psychedelic drugs, synthetic cannabis and crystal meth amphetamines.

Private health insurers have been warned they will be named and shamed unless the industry cleans up its act and stops using secretive, "underhanded" tactics to increase premium prices.

The Commonwealth ombudsman has found insurers are frequently engaging in so-called phoenixing – a loophole-exploiting practice of ending a product, only to replace it with a near-identical service with a much higher price not long after.

In one case, an insurance premium increased by 21 per cent in the space of a year after it had been phoenixed, which Health Minister Mark Butler said was tantamount to price gouging.

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"If two members of the same fund with essentially the same product are paying prices that might be 20 or more per cent different because of this phoenixing practice, you'd have to describe that as price gouging," he said.

The ombudsman investigation came after consumer group Choice first reported on the practice in February and found some insurers had increased prices by up to 47 per cent over three years.

Any private health insurance price increases must be approved by the minister, and while phoenixing isn't illegal, Butler said it was "clearly against the spirit of the law".

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"It is an underhanded, largely secret way of health insurers raising their prices outside of the usual approval process," he told reporters.

Butler said the practice was widespread across the entire industry, particularly in relation to "gold" products, which was the only option Australians had to access products like maternity and major surgery cover.

He said the government would change the law to make phoenixing illegal, and name and shame insurers, unless the industry stopped the practice.

"If there has not been a really substantial change to the behaviour of insurers, who quite openly have admitted that they engage in this practice, and up until now at least, intend to continue engaging in this practice, then I will reserve my right to consider legislative options to outlaw the practice into the future," he said.

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"All options, as far as I'm concerned, are on the table and that will include naming insurance providers that we know are conducting this practice," he added.

The warning comes after Australia's 29 private health insurers submitted their price increase proposals for next year in November.

Butler said that fter receiving advice from regulator and health department advice, he had rejected those proposals and would write to all insurers, telling them to "sharpen their pencils" and come back with lower price hike proposals.