A massive explosion believed to be caused by a gas leak in a building in Harlem, New York has left many people dead and numerous others injured with people still trapped under the debris. The casualties may rise even further as the officials in the New York fire department are still working to rescue as many people as possible.
According to the NYC officials 60 people are believed to have been injured in the explosion. The Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio announced that those who are missing may not have been in the building at the time of explosion which collapsed by the impact of the huge blast.
A huge fire broke out after the blast and a total of 200 firemen were deployed to extinguish the fire. From the initial reports the people who died were identified as two women in their 40s.
The building was home to a piano repair shop and a Spanish church. The impact of the blast was also felt in the buildings nearby as shattered glass shards were all over the place.
The blast took place at 9:30 in the morning just a few minutes before a utility team arrived there after getting a complaint of a gas leak. There were many eye-witness who described the scene after the blast. The Metro rail service was suspended temporarily as some debris from the blast fell on the railway tracks.
There were a quite a few people on the train who had a narrow escape as the train left the station some time before the blast.
The Mayor urged people to remain calm and declared that the tragedy was one of the worst to hit New York as there was hardly any time to save the people inside the building.