At least two people were killed and 18 injured after a gas leak ignited an explosion that flattened two apartment buildings in the East Harlem neighbourhood of New York City.
The death toll could still rise as emergency services said that they were continuing to look for a number of missing people more than three hours after the explosion.
Bill de Blasio, the city’s mayor, said that a gas leak was reported about 15 minutes before the explosion at about 9.30am levelled two apartment buildings in the East Harlem area of Manhattan.
“There was a major explosion that destroyed two buildings – the explosion was based on a gas leak,” Mr de Blasio said at a news conference.
Police said that two women were among the dead, while the mayor said that a number of people were still unaccounted for three hours after the explosion and that a search of the debris would take place once firefighters had extinguished the fires at the buildings.
More than 250 firefighters tackled the blaze at the site yesterday in scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the 9-11 World Trade Centre attacks in lower Manhattan.
Smoke plumes
Plumes of smoke rose above the northern part of the city from the collapsing debris of two fallen five-storey buildings. The buildings were at the corner of East 116th Street and Park Avenue in the Spanish Harlem neighbourhood that is resident to one of the largest Hispanic communities in the city.
Broken glass littered footpaths from shattered shop fronts in surrounding streets as locals reported the blast was so powerful it knocked items off the shelves of nearby grocery stores.
Gas company Con Edison was called at 9.13am about a possible leak at the residential building after witnesses reported smelling gas in the neighbourhood before the blast.
“It certainly has all the marks of such an incident [gas explosion]. We are waiting to inspect the [gas] lines to determine the cause,” a spokesman for the company, Alfonso Quiroz, said.
An inspection team from the gas company was en route to the buildings when the explosion occurred. The fire department arrived at the buildings within two minutes of the call for help after the explosion.
“This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people,” Mr de Blasio said.
New York City’s acting buildings commissioner, Thomas Fariello, said that there were six apartments in one of the buildings and nine in the second.
One of the buildings housed the Spanish Christian Church and the other a piano store called Absolute Piano.
Train services on the Metro North commuter line to Grand Central Station, one of the busiest rail routes serving the city, were suspended to allow debris to be removed from the tracks next to the buildings.
One eyewitness, Mitch Abreu, told the New York Daily News that he heard two loud explosions that shook the nearby barbershop where he worked.
“It rocked the whole block,” he said. “A window blew out of the other shop down the street. It looked like the [Twin] Towers all over again. People covered in dust and covering their mouths.”
