"said cylinder took off like a rocket (but sounds like Daily Mail reporting to me)"
That is exactly what does happen. Saw the results of a nitrogen cylinder which was dropped (~10 ft) breaking off the valve. Went through a couple of glass doors, assorted vegitation and finished up against a wall ~200yds away.
A blast of HP gas from a failed manifold/valve would have quite an effect on the skin and associated structure. Lot of energy in HP gas as shown by the tyre burst in the prototype Bucaneer which disassembled the wing during taxi test.
The tank doesn't need to burst, the gas just needs to get out in quantity at several thousand psi