The scene of a large fire and a partial building collapse in the East Village neighborhood of New York. Photo / AP
The scene of a large fire and a partial building collapse in the East Village neighborhood of New York. Photo / AP
At least 12 people have been injured - including four critically - after a five-storey building collapsed and surrounding structures caught alight following an explosion in New York City's East Village.
Flames ravaged buildings on Second Avenue and 7th St following the explosion just before 3.30pm - shortly after Con Edison workers were called to the area after the smell of gas was reported.
The site of the blast, 121 Second Avenue, caught alight, while its neighbouring building, 123 Second Avenue, completely collapsed - leaving a massive gap on the block. Thick gray smoke billowed across the sky and debris could be seen strewn across the street.
Smoke rises from a burning building in New York City. The seven alarm fire drew firefighters from across the city. Photo / AFP
Ninety minutes after the explosion, WABC reported that 12 people were injured, including four critically, while two had been taken to the burns unit at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Cornell.
All of the injured victims are civilians. More people could still be trapped inside the burning buildings, and cadaver dogs are waiting on the scene, NYC scanner reported.
As many as 175 firefighters responded to the seven-alarm blaze, while multiple ambulances and a K9 unit were also been sent to respond to the incident. Roads have been shut down between Houston St and 14th St.
A witness told the Guardian: "There was smoke. And then nothing. And then came the fire."
The buildings are mixed occupancy. 121 Second Avenue houses a sushi restaurant and four or five residences, according to property records, while 123 Second Avenue is a Belgian frites restaurant beneath three residences.
New York City firefighters work the scene of a large fire and a partial building collapse in the East Village. Photo / AP
Con Edison workers were called to the building earlier today for the smell of gas just ahead of the explosion, at around 12.30pm. Con Edison announced just before 5pm that it was shutting gas down in the area of Second Avenue.
The FDNY received the first call about the explosion at 3.15pm.
"Just heard an explosion and my entire building shook!!" Twitter user Tosha Ryan wrote at 3.24pm.
An eyewitness told DailyMail.com that a woman who was next to the building at the time of the explosion had suffered cuts across her face and that the smoke is so thick it is difficult to breathe in the streets and visibility is so poor that it is hard to see anything but lights.
Authorities are pushing passersby off the streets, he added.
A witness named Pablo, who was in a restaurant across the street when the explosion happened, told Fox5 there were Con Edison workers working in the area earlier in the day between 12.30pm and 1pm.
Pablo says locals he talked to after the explosion said they could smell gas even after the workers left earlier in the day.
Pablo ran over to the scene to help injured people escaping the building and says he saw a man with glass in his mouth, throwing up. He believes the man may have broken his collarbone because he couldn't move his arm.
Smoke rises from a burning building after an explosion on 2nd Avenue in New York City. Photo / AFP
Resident James Cole who lives two buildings over from the explosion, told WABC there was about a 10-minute time span between the blast and the first signs of smoke.
Cole left his apartment in such a panic that he only had time to put on a blazer over his gym shorts and shoes.
When he headed outside, he saw glass blown all the way to the other side of the street, and Good Samaritans helping a woman trapped on her fire escape on the building engulfed in smoke.
Once that woman was brought down to the street, another man started walking up the fire escape to check to see if anyone else needed help in the apartments, he said.
Retired FDNY deputy chief Vincent Dunn told WABC that he was surprised the building collapsed, due to the design of the 100-year-old tenement buildings in the area. Dunn compared these buildings to a "lumber yard enclosed by brick".
He says it will take several days to sift through the rubble at the scene of the fire, as happened last year when a gas explosion flattened an apattment building in East Harlem.
'Fortunately, this was a day time fire so most of the people were out working, so hopefully there will be limited victims,' Dunn said.
Those with family and friends in area have taken to Twitter with worries for their loved ones.
