Gas explosion ‘terrifying’ in NYC

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2015 (3981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — An apparent gas explosion levelled an apartment building, largely destroyed another and launched rubble and shards of glass across streets in the heart of Manhattan’s trendy East Village on Thursday, injuring at least a dozen people. Smoke could be seen and smelled for kilometres.

Restaurant diners ran out, and bystanders helped one another to escape the mid-afternoon blast, which damaged four buildings as flames shot into the air, witnesses said. Passersby were hit by debris and flying glass, and bloodied victims were aided as they sat on sidewalks and lay on the ground, they said.

“It was terrifying — absolutely terrifying,” said Bruce Finley, a visitor from San Antonio, Texas, who had just taken a photo of his food at a restaurant known for its french fries when he felt the explosion next door. “It just happened out of the blue. …We were shaking even an hour, hour-and-a-half later.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio said preliminary evidence suggested a gas explosion amid plumbing and gas work inside the building that collapsed was to blame.

Firefighters said at least 12 people were hurt, four critically, some with burns to their airways.

 

— The Associated Press