Harlem Gas Blast: More Bodies Found In Rubble

Rescue workers are searching the rubble of two New York City apartment buildings that were flattened by a gas leak, leaving seven people dead.

Three bodies were pulled from the debris in the early hours of Thursday morning.

About 60 people were hurt and a few more remain unaccounted for, police said.

The blast, on Park Avenue at 116th Street, not far from the edge of Central Park, reduced two five-storey buildings to rubble, sparked a fire and shattered windows one block away.

Rescuers worked through the night at the scene of the explosion

It also sent debris flying onto elevated commuter railroad tracks close by, cast a plume of smoke over the skyline and caused people to run into the streets.

Firefighters spent most of the day dousing the flames.

Hours after the blast, rescue teams were searching amid the broken bricks, splintered wood and mangled metal.

Heavy equipment, including back hoes and a bulldozer, arrived to clear the mountain of debris where the East Harlem buildings once stood.

The blast reduced two five-storey buildings to rubble

Flood lights were installed and thermal-imaging cameras were brought in to identify heat spots, either from bodies or pockets of fire.

The weather, with temperatures dropping below freezing with rain, might complicate the search.

Parts of the debris pile were inaccessible because of a sinkhole caused by a subsurface water main break.

Some residents in the neighbourhood reported having smelled gas for days, and the explosion occurred around 15 minutes after a neighbour reported smelling gas, authorities said. 

Residents near the site of the explosion were displaced

The Con Edison utility said it immediately sent workers to check out the report, but they did not arrive until after the explosion.

New York's Hunter College identified one of the victims as Griselde Camacho, a security officer who had worked for the college since 2008.

Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist, was also killed in the blast.

Police identified a third victim as Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21.

The identities of the other victims have not been confirmed.

Hours after the collapse, residents protect their faces from the smoke

At least three of the injured were children, with one, a 15-year-old boy, reportedly in critical condition with burns, broken bones and internal injuries.

Most of the other victims' injuries were minor and included cuts and scrapes.

The cause of the gas leak, which forced residents in nearby buildings to leave their homes, remained unclear.

Waldemar Infante, a porter who was working in a basement nearby, said: "It felt like an earthquake had rattled my whole building.

"There were glass shards everywhere on the ground and all the stores had their windows blown out."

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