NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Three people are dead and at least nine people are missing after a massive explosion rocked East Harlem Wednesday morning, leveling two buildings and sending smoke and flames billowing into the air.
At least 70 others were also injured in the blast, which happened at 9:31 a.m. Wednesday on Park Avenue at 116th Street, 1010 WINS reported.
While the FDNY only listed 27 injured patients, many others came to hospitals independently and were not treated by the department.
PHOTOS: Harlem Explosion
The explosion reduced two five-story buildings to rubble. It also shattered store windows for blocks and hurled glass, bricks and other debris throughout the neighborhood reports
The explosion and building collapses were so strong it generated weak seismic signals that were recorded at seismographic stations in New York City, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said.
Click Here To View Seismic Records From Park Avenue Explosion And Building Collapse
Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network is a regional center for the Advanced National Seismic System.
The seismic waves were recorded at both the Central Park station and the Fordham University station in the Bronx at 9:31 a.m.
“I came out, looked up and a building was just gone,” witness Mack Mayor said. “It’s just like a war zone out here.”
“Like a bomb, an explosion. Very loud. It scared the daylights out of me,” East Harlem resident Wilfredo Cruz told CBS 2′s Don Champion.
“I was sleeping in my bed and all of a sudden something blew up and the bed started shaking, the floor. And I said ‘what is this,’ I thought the world was coming to an end,” said East Harlem resident Robert Santiago.
“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,” said witness Samuel Paul, who was on the 15th floor of a building on 125th Street.
Lashean Daniels, who lives next door to one of the buildings, told CBS 2′s Tracee Carrasco the blast ripped the wall out of her apartment and sent her running for her life.
“When we got downstairs we thought it was safe and it wasn’t. They started saying ‘run, run it’s going to explode again’ and people were running down the block. It was chaotic,” Daniels said.
More than 250 firefighters responded to the scene. By 5 p.m. the flames had mostly been knocked down.
More Than 70 Injured & Nine Still Missing
The mayor’s office said nine occupants of the building remain unaccounted for, according to Fire Marshals and the NYPD.
Searches of the street have been completed and did not produce any additional victims, the mayor’s office said.
“Our hearts go out to all the families involved,” de Blasio said at a news conference earlier Wednesday. “We are spending every effort to locate each and every loved one.”
The White House also issued a statement offering “thoughts and prayers” and commended first responders.
Sgt. Griselde Camacho (Credit: CBS 2)
One of the victims was identified as 44-year-old Sgt. Griselde Camacho by Hunter College, CBS 2 reported.
The college said Sgt. Camacho served as a public safety officer at Hunter since 2008 and worked in Silberman School of Social Work building.
“We are sad to report that, in an explosion that destroyed two buildings in East Harlem this morning, we have lost a member of the Hunter family….Our hearts go out to Griselde’s family at this terrible time,” Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab said in a statement.
“We know this is a difficult time for all those who knew and worked with Sergeant Camacho, whether at the Silberman School or as part of the public safety office. All of you will be in our thoughts in the days ahead. We will update the community soon about plans to hold a memorial and about where to send your condolences,” the statement said.
A second victim has been identified as Carmen Tanco, 67, who worked as director of communications at Bethel Gospel Assembly. She was inside the building at the time.
Carmen Tanco, 67, was one of three people killed when an explosion leveled two buildings in Harlem on Wednesday, March 12. (Credit: Tanco Family)
The FDNY has not yet identified the two other victims, both of whom were said to be female, CBS 2 reported.
A representative of Harlem Hospital Center said the hospital received 13 patients from the explosion. Three patients were children, one of which was in critical condition. The other two were in stable condition. The hospital said 10 adult patients, ranging in age from 20 to 79 years old, were in stable condition.
A Metropolitan Hospital Center spokesperson said the hospital had received 17 patients related to building collapse. Six came by ambulance and eleven walked in on their own with minor complaints, the hospital said. Nine adults and one pediatric patient remained under evaluation and in stablecondition
Doctors said 22 people were at Mount Sinai Hospital, some of which walked in for treatment, 1010 WINS’ Holli Haerr reported. Most of the injuries were minor, but a doctor told Haerr the hospital had one person in critical condition with a head injury, WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb reported. Three children were also brought to the hospital, two of which were treated and released.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital said it had 10 patients related to the incident. They were being evaluated at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, sources told CBS 2.
Source - CBS
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