Federal safety authorities launched an investigation on Thursday into a gas explosion that caused the collapse a day earlier of two New York City apartment buildings, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others, according to the Associated Press.
The still-smoldering rubble prevented investigators from getting close enough to examine the main pipe that supplies natural gas to the Upper East Side neighborhood, said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which reviews accidents involving natural gas, the AP reported.
When firefighters say the area is safe, he said, investigators will conduct a pressure test on the pipe to find the location of the leak that may have caused the blast, according to the AP.
"We are operating under the assumption at this point that it is a natural gas leak that led to an explosion," Sumwalt said, the AP reported.
The explosion at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday shook the East Harlem neighborhood shortly after a resident complained to the Con Edison utility about a gas odor, according to the AP.
"You've got basically two five-story buildings that have been reduced to essentially a three-story pile of bricks and twisted metal," Sumwalt said, the AP reported. "The smell of smoke is omnipresent."
Four women and three men were killed, but only four victims' identities have been released so far, according to the AP.
They are Griselde Camacho, 44, a public safety officer for Hunter College in East Harlem; Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist; Rosaura Hernandez, 21, and Andreas Panagopoulos, 43, the AP reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said 40 people were injured. He declined at an earlier news conference to say how many remain unaccounted for, although New York City police earlier said five people are still missing, according to the AP.
At least three children were hurt; two were treated for minor injuries and released, while a third was in critical condition, hospital officials said, the AP reported. The two buildings on a largely residential block at East 116th Street and Park Avenue housed 15 apartments, a ground-floor church and a piano store.
Residents of seven nearby buildings, with nearly 90 apartments, lost heating and gas services, according to the AP. NTSB's Sumwalt said the main, low-pressure gas distribution line that runs along Park Avenue was still intact. Service lines carry gas into buildings from that main pipe, he said.
Passersby in the primarily Latino neighborhood donned dust masks or wrapped winter scarves around their faces to limit inhalation of dust and smoke, the AP reported. The mayor said 66 people who lost their apartments or could not stay there have been given shelter.
"Anyone affected by this tragedy will be helped - anyone - regardless of immigration status... They should not be afraid," de Blasio said, according to the AP.
