Gas blast levels 2 buildings; 3 die

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A gas leak triggered an earthshaking explosion that flattened two apartment buildings Wednesday, killing at least three people, injuring more than 60 and leaving nine missing. A tenant said residents had complained repeatedly in recent weeks about “unbearable” gas smells.

By evening, rescue workers finally began the search for victims amid the broken bricks, splintered wood and mangled metal after firefighters spent most of the day dousing the flames. Heavy equipment, including backhoes and a bulldozer, arrived to clear the mountain of debris where the two five-story East Harlem buildings stood. Floodlights were in place. Thermal-imaging cameras were at the ready to identify heat spots — bodies or pockets of fire.

The recovery was facing hardship in the form of the weather, with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s with rain. Some parts of the debris pile were inaccessible because of a sinkhole caused by a subsurface water-main break, officials said.

The fiery blast, on Park Avenue at 116th Street, not far from the edge of Central Park, erupted about 9:30 a.m., around 15 minutes after a neighboring resident reported smelling gas, authorities said. The Con Edison utility said it immediately sent workers to check out the report, but they didn’t arrive until it was too late.

The explosion shattered windows a block away, rained debris onto elevated commuter railroad tracks close by, cast a plume of smoke over the skyline and sent people running into the streets.

Police said two women believed to be in their 40s were among the dead.

Hunter College identified one as Griselde Camacho, a security officer who worked at the Silberman School of Social Work building. Hunter, in a statement on its website, said she had worked for the college since 2008.

At least three of the injured were children; one, a 15-year-old boy, was reported in critical condition with burns, broken bones and internal injuries. Most of the other victims’ injuries were minor and included cuts and scrapes.

Fire officials said some people were unaccounted for but cautioned they may not have been in the buildings.

A tenant in one of the destroyed buildings, Ruben Borrero, said residents had complained to the landlord about smelling gas as recently as Tuesday.

The fire department said a check of its records found no instances in the past month in which tenants of the two buildings reported gas odors or leaks.

A National Transportation Safety Board team arrived in the evening to investigate. The agency investigates pipeline accidents in addition to transportation disasters.