Copied and Pasted from Fox: 

 

BREAKING NEWS: More than 160 firefighters were battling a five-alarm blaze after an explosion caused a partial building collapse in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood.

Local reports said 15 were hurt, but the extent of the injuries were not immediately clear. It was also unclear if anyone was trapped inside the rubble.

The building is located around Park Avenue between 114th and 117th streets, which is north of Central Park. The explosion was heard for miles around, and smoke was billowing high above the city in the mid-morning hours.

Residents reported hearing a large explosion in an apartment building around 9 a.m.

"The whole building shook," a worker at a nearby travel store told theNew York Post. “I think people must be injured. I see a lot of smoke."

WATCH LIVE: NYC BUILDING COLLAPSE

Smoke from the fire in the residential building could be seen in midtown. Video footage shows fire crews fighting the fire and ambulances could be seen lined up on nearby streets.

Caregivers at a nearby daycare center said children heard the explosion and staffers told Fox News they immediately thought of the 9/11 terror attacks that shook the other end of Manhattan more than a dozen years ago. 

"I heard a big explosion, Boom!...I made sure my coworker was OK," one witness said. 

Metro North Rail Road is reporting that the Harlem Line Service into and out of Grand Central Terminal is temporarily delayed until further notice due to police activity, MyFoxNY.com reported.

The fire appears to be limited to the one building, but debris could be seen from blocks away. Some of those injured may have been hit by falling debris, reports said.

One resident who lived next door to the collapsed building reported smelling a strong odor of gas Tuesday night.

 

Fox says 1 dead and 17 injured (at the time i post this)

 

Jesus.

Fox says 1 dead and 17 injured (at the time i post this)

 

Jesus.

Yeah.... I think it was a gas leak, and then it exploded. Thats my 0.02$.

EDIT: fixed 2 cents. 

Edited March 12, 201412 yr by Officer Vic

UPDATE 2 dead 17 injured

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Edited June 22, 20241 yr by tobeymaguire

"A witness told the New York Daily News she had smelled gas 'for weeks' before the explosion." [BBC News]

"A witness told the New York Daily News she had smelled gas 'for weeks' before the explosion." [BBC News]

And that makes the gas leak theory plausible. 

That's awful

That's awful

It sure is. Off topic: "the Only mature 8 yr old" bwahhahahahahahahahahah

It sure is. Off topic: "the Only mature 8 yr old" bwahhahahahahahahahahah

 

Don't make fun of my age!

Just saw on 53 Hours (A police organization) on Facebook, that a City University of New York Public Safety Officer was killed in the explosion. R.I.P Sarge, EOW 3/12/14

If it was reported as a gas leak, and the utility company was en route to the scene when the explosion occured....then was the NYPD bomb squad on scene and staging about 15 minutes after the explosion? Surely if it was just a gas explosion then they wouldn't have sent them in that soon, especially as it had already been reported as such?

Probably because they weren't sure if there was a gas leak or not. In that case, it's better for the police to check out the scene first to preserve any evidence, and only if it's clear there was no foul play is it turned over to others to deal with. IIRC, it's standard procedure to check every fire/explosion for signs of arson/intentional explosions.

I guess in the US you can never be too careful

My friend went out to NYC to see a show that day and she came back and said there was visibly heightened security (NYPD + MTA Special Operations) at Penn Station in NY after the explosion. I guess you can never be too sure at the beginning.

 

Obviously it was a gas explosion accident though, a real shame.