On Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. ET, a massive explosion in Manhattan's East Harlem shook the neighborhood and caused two buildings to collapse. Authorities revealed on Wednesday that New York police and fire officials responded to the scene, near 116th and Park Avenue, to assist in the aftermath of the blast.
“The building shook and then we looked to see what was happening. We saw a whole lot of smoke. A lot of smoke came out,” witness Samuel Paul told CBS 2. “There’s a lot of dark smoke still coming out. A lot of fire engines I saw going to 125th Street. The smoke started to rise. It looked like something fell because it wasn’t like a fire. It just looked like debris smoke, similar to 9/11.”
Reports are suggesting that a gas leak could have been responsible for the blast, as tenants reported smelling gasoline for weeks and Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee revealed that they received a call earlier that morning. By the time the utility truck arrived, according to McGee, the explosion had already taken place.
"This is going to be an extended operation. It will take quite a bit of time to fully address this issue," said New York City mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. "To achieve that, we have on the scene 250 firefighters and dozens of pieces of equipment including heavy equipment necessary to deal with the rubble from the building."
As of now, seven have been reported dead, nine are missing, and countless others are injured from the East Harlem blast. The neighborhood is commonly referred to as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio and is one of the largest Latino communities in New York City made up of mostly Puerto Ricans, as well as some Dominican, Salvadorian and Mexican immigrants. In the 2000 Census, 52.1 percent of the district described themselves to be of Hispanic origin.
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