At least 12 injured in New York City fire and building collapse

NEW YORK (AP) — A building on fire near New York University collapsed today, and the city's fire department says at least 12 people have been hurt and other people are being evaluated at the scene.

Orange flames and black smoke billowed from the facade and roof of the five-story building in Manhattan, near several NYU buildings and the Washington Square Park area. Flames were spreading to other buildings.

Investigators were looking into whether there had been a gas leak. There were some reports of an explosion before the fire.

The area was being evacuated, and other people were being evaluated at the scene.

Freelance photographer Michael Seto, who lives about 1 1/2 blocks away, said he was having lunch around 3:20 p.m.

"I could feel the boom in my apartment, and it short of shook," he said.

He grabbed his camera, ran outside and found a crowd gathering, looking at a brick tenement-style building with a restaurant on the first floor.

"By the second story, the front part of the building, the facade, the first and second stories, it looked like, had collapsed into the street," he said.

Rubble was on the sidewalk, and glass and debris had been flung across an avenue