Building explosion in NYC triggers huge blaze

Reuters

A residential apartment building collapses and is engulfed in flames in New York City's East Village neighbourhood, critically injuring four.

A five-storey building apartment building exploded "like a bomb" in New York City, then caught fire and collapsed. At least a dozen people were injured, with four in critical condition.

Stunned survivors spilled into the streets at Second Avenue and East 7th Street, and one brave soul scaled a fire escape and started kicking out windows until fire beat him back.

"I saw a man running out with his hair singed," Chloe Kekovic who works nearby, told the New York Daily News. "He was screaming at unable to see."

"It was like a bomb," Aleksandr Srdi, 32, who lives around the corner, told DNAInfo. "Everyone was like what's going on? People from Starbucks were yelling to get back inside and they were trying to lock the doors."

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said that preliminary evidence suggests a natural gas-related explosion. "That investigation is ongoing," he said.

There had been plumbing and gas work ongoing at 121 Second Avenue, and inspectors with the Con Edison utility were at the building hours earlier to check a meter installation. The unit didn't pass inspection and gas was not turned back on at the meter, Con Ed's president, Craig Ivey, told reporters.

Construction worker Matty Disilvestro, 51, told the New York Post he felt "the pressure of the blast" a block away.

"I heard a loud explosion, just a very loud vibrating boom.People who were on the sidewalks and even people on the opposite side of the street were hit with debris," he said.

Read the original here:
Building explosion in NYC triggers huge blaze