Tenants of New York flats warned of gas leak ahead of fatal explosion
A tenant of one of the two New York apartment buildings flattened by a massive explosion said residents had complained repeatedly in recent weeks about "unbearable" gas smells.
A tenant of one of the two New York apartment buildings flattened by a massive explosion said residents had complained repeatedly in recent weeks about "unbearable" gas smells.
The blast in Harlem on Wednesday morning killed at least seven people and injured more than 60. Five people remained missing, New York police detective Martin Speechley said.
Rescuers working amid billowing smoke pulled four additional bodies yesterday from the rubble, with searchers still trying to locate others a day later.
Heavy equipment, including backhoes and a bulldozer, arrived to clear the mountain of debris where the two five-storey East Harlem buildings had stood. Thermal imaging cameras were at the ready to identify heat spots - bodies or pockets of fire.
It felt like an earthquake had rattled my whole building
The recovery effort was hampered by bad weather, with rain and temperatures below freezing. Some parts of the debris pile were inaccessible because of a sinkhole caused by a subsurface water-main break.