Asbestos-laden steam pipe explodes in New York City; 28 buildings evacuated
The pipe contained the cancer-causing substance, but city officials said there was no major public health threat
An ageing steam pipe containing asbestos exploded beneath Fifth Avenue in Manhattan early on Thursday, hurling chunks of tarmac into the air, sending out a geyser of white vapour 10 stories high and forcing the evacuation of 28 buildings. City officials said there was no major public health threat.
Five people, including three civilians, suffered minor injuries from the 6.40am blast on 21st Street, and officials warned people who may have got material on them to bag their clothes and shower immediately as a precaution.
“There was asbestos in the steam line casing,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said about eight hours after the explosion, but “the air cleared fairly quickly after the incident. ... There is no meaningful presence of asbestos in the air at this point.”
On a street near the blast site, firefighters stripped off their heavy outerwear, bagged it and entered a red decontamination tent in their gym shorts and T-shirts to take showers. Responders’ vehicles were hosed off.
De Blasio said it could take days to check and clean the buildings, which include 28 in a “hot zone” closest to the site where the blast left a crater roughly 20 feet by 15 feet (6 metres by 4.5 metres) in the street.