many more photos re: explosion in E. Village

[LiberalElite]

http://www.vosizneias.com/198863/2015/03/26/new-york-ny-building-collapses-in-manhattan-after-possible-explosion/

"New York, NY - An apparent gas explosion leveled an apartment building, partially destroyed another and launched rubble and shards of glass across streets in the heart of Manhattan’s trendy East Village on Thursday, injuring at least a dozen people. Smoke could be seen and smelled for miles.

Restaurant diners ran out of their shoes and bystanders helped one another to escape the midafternoon blast, which damaged four buildings as flames shot into the air, witnesses said. Passers-by were hit by debris and flying glass, and bloodied victims were aided as they sat on sidewalks and lay on the ground, they said."

[Historic NY]

1. Amazing no one was killed...

from the reports it sounds like shoddy repairs and inexperience workers. They apparently ignore the stop work order issued earlier.

[Warpy]

2. Yes, this one is going to be fun to put together

and there might be deaths yet, once they sift through what's left and the two people in the most critical condition go through the first day. The information I have is that they inhaled flame, something that has a pretty poor outcome even if they get to the hospital in time to go onto ECMO. I hope there are no deaths with this one but it looked really, really bad.

Those old tenement buildings do tend to go up like rockets. One whiff of smoke and I'm standing next to the bed with my shoes on before I wake up, living in Boston tenements taught me that, even in a NM fire season when I know the fire is 100 miles away.

I know the area pretty well from 45 years ago. The buildings were old and funky then, and I doubt the intervening years have improved the structure or the safety, only have seen cosmetic improvements in order to justify outrageous rents. I feel so sorry for the people who lived there. I am only glad most of them weren't home.

[LiberalElite]

3. Not sure about that -

there's a young guy who was in the sushi restaurant at the time, and hasn't been heard from since. They're still putting out the hot spots and haven't been able to get into the debris to see if anyone's under it.