Mar 12, 2014 ... Buildings housing apartments, church and piano shop collapse after huge explosion blamed on gas leak in East Harlem; dozens injured, ...
Oct 3, 2015 ... At least one person is dead and three more injured after a massive gas explosion blew out the front of a three-story building along a busy street ...
CBS NewsMarch 12, 2014, 10:08 AM
Massive explosion levels 2 buildings in NYC; 3 dead
NEW YORK -- A third person has been confirmed
killed and at least nine people are missing after a massive explosion
blamed on a gas leak rocked East Harlem, leveling two buildings and
sending smoke and flames billowing into the air.
CBS New York reports
that at least 62 others were also injured in the blast, which happened
around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday on Park Avenue at 116th Street, sources
said. Speaking from the scene, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the
explosion was caused by a gas leak. He said some of those unaccounted
for might have fled to safety.
One of the buildings that collapsed had a piano repair shop with apartments above. The second building housed a church. Officials believe both buildings were five stories.
WCBS
reported at least three people, two of them women, were killed in the
explosion. The fire department said more than 20 people were injured,
including two with life-threatening injuries. The FBI said two agents
were injured in the explosion but were expected to make a full recovery.
One
of the women who was killed was identified as Sgt. Griselde Camacho, a
public safety officer at New York City's Hunter College since 2008.
Sgt. Griselde Camacho died
Hunter College
"Our hearts go out to Griselde's family at this terrible time," the school's president, Jennifer J. Raab, said in a statement.
The second was identified as Carmen Tanco, 67, who worked as a dental assistant. The
White House issued a statement offering "thoughts and prayers" and
commending first responders. The National Transportation Safety Board
said it was sending a team of experts to New York City to investigate. Video
from the scene showed huge flames and billowing smoke as hundreds of
firefighters battled the blaze, which was upgraded to five-alarms.
Debris and rubble could be seen scattered all over the area. Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion.
"I was
home and then next thing you know I'm laying down and I hear this big
explosion. I came out, looked up and a building was just gone,"
eyewitness Mack Mayor told CBS 2. "It's just like a war zone out here."
"The
smoke started to rise. It looked like something fell because it wasn't
like a fire. It just looked like debris smoke, similar to 9/11," said
witness Samuel Paul, who was on the 15th floor of a building on 125th
Street. Con Edison said crews were responding to the area on a report of a gas odor just prior to the explosion. "The
call came in at 9:13 a.m. from a resident who reported smelling gas
inside the apartment, but the resident indicated the odor may have been
coming from outside the building," Con Ed spokesman Sydney Alvarez
said. "Two Con Edison crews were dispatched at about 9:15 a.m. and
arrived just after the explosion occurred."
Alvarez said the
street was served by an eight-inch low-pressure gas main and that crews
were checking gas lines and other structures for any possible leaks. De Blasio said the "only indication of danger" came about 15 minutes before the blast. Carmen Vargas-Rosa, who owns the church, said there was a gas odor nearby Tuesday night. "Last
night when we came out of church, at the corner outside in the street
there was a smell of gas," she said. "It would come and go, so I thought
it was from the corner store there so I went to the owners and told
them and they said they would look into it and then we went home."
Vargas-Rosa said four of her tenants are unaccounted for. "One
of them was off from work so most likely she was in the building,"
Vargas-Rosa said. "We have a mother who has a sick son, so unless they
were at an appointment in the hospital, they may have been in the
explosion and then we have a young man and his wife who go to school
late so they may have been sleeping and we can't reach them." The
New York Police Department ruled out terrorism as a cause of the
explosion, but the bomb squad and the FBI were both on the scene. Metro-North
said the explosion happened adjacent to their tracks. Service in and
out of Grand Central Terminal was suspended until further notice. Many took to Twitter and began posting pictures of smoke rising from the area.
Sgt. Griselde Camacho diedHunter College
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