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New York fire crews rush to battle fire at East Village building collapse New York City building fire and collapse leaves three people critically injured
(about 1 hour later)
At least three people were critically injured in a massive fire and partial building collapse in the wake of an explosion at a Manhattan building on Thursday. A suspected gas leak caused a major explosion in downtown New York City on Thursday afternoon that set a row of residential buildings on fire, causing two to partially collapse and leaving at least 12 people injured.
Hundreds of firefighters were on the scene in the neighborhood near New York University, where witnesses reported hearing an explosion around 3:15pm ET shortly before flames broke out at a five-story residential building near Second Avenue and Seventh Street. A Guardian reporter saw thick, yellow and white smoke was rising rapidly from the top of the building, which appeared to have partially collapsed. Three people were in critical condition following the blast, according to the mayor’s office.
The fire department had no information on the cause of the fire, but the New York Times reported the department had told them there was some evidence of a gas leak. A spokesman for Con Edison utility company told Reuters gas supplies were being cut to nearby buildings as a precaution. Rescue crews responding to reports of people possibly trapped on upper floors of the buildings converged quickly after the first reports of the disaster at about 3.20pm ET.
“This is being considered a major emergency,” a fire department spokeswoman said. Twenty minutes later, firefighters on ladders poured water on flames leaping as high as three stories from the roof of the buildings, on Second Avenue near the corner of Seventh Street. A column of white and yellow smoke billowed above.
A police officer manning a sidewalk barricade at scene who did not want to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media said: “All I heard is there was a restaurant explosion.” “Preliminary evidence suggests a gas-related explosion,” Mayor Bill De Blasio said at a news conference near the scene just more than two hours after the first reports. “That investigation is ongoing. The initial impact appears to have been caused by plumbing and gas work that was occurring inside 121 2nd Avenue.”
The reported address for the building is that of a Japanese restaurant. Reuters reported the five-story building housed 26 apartments and was built in 1900. Related: New York City fire destroys Manhattan buildings – in pictures
Firefighters on ladder trucks on Second Avenue in front of the building were pouring water onto the roof of the building, but in moments where the smoke cleared, flames were visible rising 10 feet and higher above the building and the one next door. Two employees of North Star Tattoo, a nearby business, told the Guardian they saw workers from a Japanese restaurant that was in the ground floor of one of the buildings running up a building fire escape and pulling “at least five” people from windows.
Police had erected a cordon at Fifth Street along Second Avenue and extending up about 10 blocks, and there were dozens of emergency vehicles at the scene along with at least one NYPD helicopter. “The Japanese workers at the restaurant? They were climbing the building trying to get people out,” said one employee who did not want to give her name. “The outside of the building.”
Two employees of North Star Tattoo on Seventh Street, about a half block from the scene, told the Guardian they went to the corner after feeling the blast. A “majority of people” living in the residential buildings “self-evacuated”, and no firefighters were injured, De Blasio said, adding that there were “no reports of additional missing persons.”
They said they saw workers from a Japanese restaurant that had been on the ground floor of one of the buildings climbing up the fire escape of the burning building and pulling people from windows. A gas explosion in a building in East Harlem, in northern Manhattan, in March 2014 left eight people dead.
“The Japanese workers at the restaurant? They were climbing the building trying to get people out,” said an employee of the tattoo parlor. “The outside of the building.” Workers with ConEdison, the gas and electric utility, had visited the Second Avenue site just more than an hour before the suspected explosion to inspect gas work being conducted by a private company, de Blasio said. The new instillation did not pass inspection, he said, but there were no reports of a gas leak at the site.
#BREAKING: Aerial view of building collapse @NYPD9Pct. Numerous rescue units on scene #SOD #ESU #K9 #Aviation #FD pic.twitter.com/d9iX4GOBUd “Until we know what happened here we cannot pass judgement,” the mayor said.
From the scene of the 2nd Ave building collapse http://t.co/HY5AjtbmeL pic.twitter.com/o9IPpxzajrFrom the scene of the 2nd Ave building collapse http://t.co/HY5AjtbmeL pic.twitter.com/o9IPpxzajr
“The thing is that the Japanese restaurant, it was for sure open. And that’s just gone. There’s just a hole there. It was a big place.”
They said they saw firemen on top of the building communicating with firemen on the ground.
“The firefighters were really hosing it down for a while before you could really see the flames outside of the building. And the flames were like 30 feet in the air.
“There were firefighters on the roof waving at the other guys to get them down because they knew it was going to go up.”
A woman who was working in the back of The Moonstruck restaurant one block away told the Guardian she had felt a “boom and a vibration” unlike anything she had felt before. She did not want to give her name.
“We were in the back and we heard the boom. And then we came out, and there was smoke. And then nothing, and then came the fire,” she said.
The area is at the heart of the east village, with blocks of five-story buildings, most with businesses on the ground floor including Indian restaurants, real estate offices and clothing stores.
Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered at taped-off blockades on side streets on either side of second avenue. A couple with a kid wearing a baseball mitt argued unsuccessfully with a police officer to be allowed access to their house. A light rain had begun to fall around 5pm.
123 Second is already gone. Adjacent buildings may well follow. pic.twitter.com/hwbMI2RmSr123 Second is already gone. Adjacent buildings may well follow. pic.twitter.com/hwbMI2RmSr
There was just an explosion on 2nd avenue and 7th street east village pic.twitter.com/jvSbfdCSSe Flames leapt as high as three stories from the roofs of the building about a half hour after the explosion was reported.
Possible gas leak on 2nd Avenue & 7th street causes explosion #EastVillage pic.twitter.com/gmBCpDmScB A woman who was working in the back of The Moonstruck restaurant two blocks away told the Guardian she had felt a “boom and a vibration” unlike anything she had felt before. She did not want to give her name.
“We were in the back and we heard the boom. And then we came out, and there was smoke. And then nothing, and then came the fire,” she said.
Police cordoned off a ten-block-long portion of the avenue. Firefighters strung hoses down entire blocks in side streets on either side of the avenue, which was filled with emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Hundreds of onlookers milled around the scene.
About 250 firefighters responded to the scene, the mayor said.
The tattoo parlor employees said that after they felt the explosion, they saw firemen on top of the building communicating with firemen on the ground.
“The firefighters were really hosing it down for a while before you could really see the flames outside of the building. And the flames were like 30 feet in the air,” one said. “There were firefighters on the roof waving at the other guys to get them down because they knew it was going to go up.”
The area is at the heart of the east village, with blocks of five-story buildings, most comprising four stories of residences with businesses on the ground floor including Indian restaurants, real estate offices and clothing stores.
Jana Kasperkevic contributed reportingJana Kasperkevic contributed reporting