Multiple fatalities reported after NYC buildings collapse in explosion
A seventh person has died after two New York City buildings collapsed on Wednesday in an explosion apparently caused by a gas leak. The number of those injured in the incident is now “close to 60”, police spokesman Detective Marc Nell said, with several more victims feared trapped in the rubble.
Nell also said the seventh victim of Wednesday’s blast was pulled from the buildings’ rubble, adding that no one had died at a hospital.
The blast, which scattered debris across nearby rooftops, brought down the adjoining five-story buildings, with a total of 15 apartments, at about 9:30 a.m. on a largely residential Upper Manhattan block at East 116th Street and Park Avenue.