system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do explosions kill people?

I guess it makes sense when you're standing in extremely close proximity to the actual explosion. What I don't quite get is how people in the general area of a bomb explosion get thrown into the air and killed.
gpt
First, the whole "getting thrown into the air" thing is just a Hollywood stunt effect. You're not actually going to be lifted off your feet more than a couple of inches unless the explosion is underneath you.

The primary way an explosion will kill you is the shockwave. A wall of compressed air comes racing away from the explosion at high speed. When this shock wave hits your body it's going to damage your internal organs.

Secondarily, you can be hit with shrapnel and debris. For example, grenades don't generally kill with the explosion itself. The metal shards around the explosive fly off in all directions and will kill you that way.