A Pembroke man is lucky to be alive after a quarry blast hurled a jagged rock through his car window.

Dallen Martin, of Spanish Point, was parked outside of the Swizzle Inn in Bailey's Bay yesterday afternoon when the Island Quarry blast occurred.

Mr. Martin said he had just stepped out of his car when the blast, from the quarry behind Swizzle Inn, sent rocks hurling.

"I just got out of my car and was a few feet away,'' he said. "I heard an explosion, it sounded just like a bullet.'' When he first saw the rock, Mr. Martin said he thought someone was throwing "stuff'' at him.

A rock -- about seven-by-three inches in size -- smashed through his car windshield, ricocheted off the dash board and into the driver's seat, he said.

The rock bounced off the driver's seat and landed in the passenger's seat. Mr.

Martin was not injured.

Swizzle Inn manager Jay Carreiro, who pointed out that someone could have been hurt, said he had been complaining about the level and frequency of the quarry blasts for about a year.

"Every time they blast, it shakes me and the customers,'' he said. "We have had customers complaining. It feels like an earthquake.'' "I'm sending a letter to the Director of Planning,'' he added. "Someone could have been hurt. I have visible cracks to the building from it.'' No-one from Island Quarry, the Planning Department, or the Ministry of Works & Engineering could be reached for comment yesterday.