4 More Dead Found in Rubble Overnight, Death Toll at 7 After NYC Explosion
By Andrew Siff and Melissa Russo
Four more bodies were found overnight in the smoldering rubble of two upper Manhattan buildings leveled by a gas explosion that injured more than 70 people and spewed debris for blocks, bringing the death toll to seven.
Rescue crews brought in a backhoe and bulldozer and were digging through the debris Thursday for more buried victims as firefighters battled flareups in the wreckage of the two five-story buildings that collapsed Wednesday morning on 116th and Park Avenue.
Five people are still missing.
FDNY Chief of Department Edward Kilduff told Mayor de Blasio Thursday as the mayor visited workers in the rubble that most of the victims have been found about 20 feet into the pile, on the left side.
De Blasio thanked rescuers for their work.
"I can only imagine knowing that at any moment, you might find a body, how difficult that is," he said.
The force of the blast was so strong that it registered on the Richter scale at just under .5, according to Columbia University. Smoke billowed into Central Park and could be seen miles away in midtown, and New Yorkers said they felt rumbles as far away as 150th Street. Closer to the collapse, groceries were knocked from store shelves and an ashy film covered streets, sidewalks and cars.
The explosion knocked out windows of nearby apartment buildings and forced evacuations. The Red Cross said nearly 70 people, half of them children, spent the night at the Salvation Army.
The only indication of anything wrong before the explosion was a call to Con Edison from a woman in a nearby building, reporting a strong odor of gas just minutes before the blast, the mayor and the utility said. But it was too late.
"This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," de Blasio said Wednesday.
Three of the seven victims killed in the explosion have been identified as Griselde Camacho, 44, Carmen Tanco, 67, and Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 22. Four others, three men and one woman, have not been identified.
Hospitals reported receiving 74 people injured, including one teen and one woman who were both critically hurt. The 15-year-old boy's skin was badly burned, and he had broken bones and internal injuries, doctors said. The woman, who was pulled from the debris, is being treated for critical neck and back injuries.
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Most of the people who were injured are expected to survive. At Harlem Hospital, where more than a dozen people were treated, one man who suffered from smoke inhalation described passing out as he ran from falling debris.
"I just kept on going, just trying to get away," he said.
Another man was driving a cab near the Metro-North tracks when he felt the blast.
"He thought the train was falling on top of him, but that wasn't true," his son said. "His car got shattered but he's OK. He's shaken up."
Two on-duty FBI agents who were driving through the area at the time of the explosion were among those hurt, but their injuries were not life-threatening, the FBI said.
READ MORE
By Andrew Siff and Melissa Russo
Four more bodies were found overnight in the smoldering rubble of two upper Manhattan buildings leveled by a gas explosion that injured more than 70 people and spewed debris for blocks, bringing the death toll to seven.
Rescue crews brought in a backhoe and bulldozer and were digging through the debris Thursday for more buried victims as firefighters battled flareups in the wreckage of the two five-story buildings that collapsed Wednesday morning on 116th and Park Avenue.
Five people are still missing.
FDNY Chief of Department Edward Kilduff told Mayor de Blasio Thursday as the mayor visited workers in the rubble that most of the victims have been found about 20 feet into the pile, on the left side.
De Blasio thanked rescuers for their work.
"I can only imagine knowing that at any moment, you might find a body, how difficult that is," he said.
The force of the blast was so strong that it registered on the Richter scale at just under .5, according to Columbia University. Smoke billowed into Central Park and could be seen miles away in midtown, and New Yorkers said they felt rumbles as far away as 150th Street. Closer to the collapse, groceries were knocked from store shelves and an ashy film covered streets, sidewalks and cars.
The explosion knocked out windows of nearby apartment buildings and forced evacuations. The Red Cross said nearly 70 people, half of them children, spent the night at the Salvation Army.
The only indication of anything wrong before the explosion was a call to Con Edison from a woman in a nearby building, reporting a strong odor of gas just minutes before the blast, the mayor and the utility said. But it was too late.
"This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," de Blasio said Wednesday.
Three of the seven victims killed in the explosion have been identified as Griselde Camacho, 44, Carmen Tanco, 67, and Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 22. Four others, three men and one woman, have not been identified.
Hospitals reported receiving 74 people injured, including one teen and one woman who were both critically hurt. The 15-year-old boy's skin was badly burned, and he had broken bones and internal injuries, doctors said. The woman, who was pulled from the debris, is being treated for critical neck and back injuries.
WATCH: Father-to-Be Missing in Rubble
Collapse Survivor Says Flying Pianos Saved His Life
WATCH: Dozens Treated for Injuries From East Harlem Explosion
Most of the people who were injured are expected to survive. At Harlem Hospital, where more than a dozen people were treated, one man who suffered from smoke inhalation described passing out as he ran from falling debris.
"I just kept on going, just trying to get away," he said.
Another man was driving a cab near the Metro-North tracks when he felt the blast.
"He thought the train was falling on top of him, but that wasn't true," his son said. "His car got shattered but he's OK. He's shaken up."
Two on-duty FBI agents who were driving through the area at the time of the explosion were among those hurt, but their injuries were not life-threatening, the FBI said.
READ MORE