A building partially collapsed on 2nd Avenue in New York City on Thursday, following an explosion and a raging fire. Restaurants Pommes Frites and Sushi Park were destroyed.
Investigators are looking into the possibility of the gas leak.
Firefighters and other workers rushed to the scene, which was identified in reports as 125 2nd Avenue at 6th Street, on the Lower East Side. Some others are saying it’s 121 2nd Avenue.
The Fire Department says that 12 people are injured from the explosion–three of them critically. Scroll down for pictures and videos from the scene.
Now #FDNY operating on-scene at 123 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/bg8vx1TwLX
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 26, 2015
Fire and building collapse @nyunews pic.twitter.com/FxIVZFdM72
— Julie DeVito (@jdevito91) March 26, 2015
#BREAKING: 2nd Ave – 7th Street – Building collapse @NYPD9Pct #SOD #ESU #K9 #Aviation #FD pic.twitter.com/HoWmtfWKeW
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) March 26, 2015
“The fire is almost down to smoke now. FDNY may have saved the adjoining buildings. Still four streams of water on it,” noted author Scott Westerfeld.
Michelle Conrad was walking home up Second Avenue when she heard “a giant explosion,” she told WYNC.
“At first I thought it was a car exploded. Then I saw people running and then I saw glass flying.”
View from my office of devastating East Village explosions. Prayers for all affected. pic.twitter.com/yFY07t9vU2
— Marji J. Sherman (@MarjiJSherman) March 26, 2015
Crazy explosion on 7 and 2nd east village #fire #explosion pic.twitter.com/U3Z4mx3Wut
— J K (@Jamie_S_Kennedy) March 26, 2015
This is the street view for the building before the explosion. These buildings in the East Village are >100 years old pic.twitter.com/k3LcqDHeRY
— Max Sklar (@maxsklar) March 26, 2015
The fire was raging for a while but appears to have gone down considerably as of 4:22 p.m. EDT.
At scene of East Village fire pic.twitter.com/50zx6M0Gwb
— Stephen Nessen (@s_nessen) March 26, 2015
3 blocks from scene, now 7 alarm, multiple injuries at fire/building collapse in NYC pic.twitter.com/Syvcqit0YV
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) March 26, 2015
Freelance photographer Michael Seto, who lives about 1 1/2 blocks away, said he was having lunch around 3:20 p.m. “I could feel the boom in my apartment, and it short of shook,” he told the Associated Press.
“By the second story, the front part of the building, the facade, the first and second stories, it looked like, had collapsed into the street,” he said.
The fire “spread very quickly and pretty much engulfed the first floor,” he said.
View of building collapse/fire from 2nd Ave & St Marks Place. 200 firefighters on scene pic.twitter.com/W4y5qnL6zx
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) March 26, 2015
The five-story building is near New York University and the Washington Square Park area. Several blocks around the building have been evacuated, including university housing in the area. The area has been closed off, NYPD Community Affairs Bureau Chief Joanne Jaffe said.
Story developing…
MORE: Manhattan Building Collapse: Explosion, Fire at East Village’s 7th Street – 2nd Ave
