New York - . An explosion on Wednesday caused the collapse of two apartment buildings in New York (NY ) , and left at least two dead and 18 wounded , with thick columns of smoke rising into the sky.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said " there are several missing individuals." He hinted that he might have been out looking for safety and that the city was making efforts to locate them.
The company closed the Con Edison gas pipes entering the building , said de Blasio . The explosion occurred after a neighbor reported having smelled natural gas.
The NYPD said previously that two women died in the explosion in East Harlem , but did not know other details at the moment .
According to Con Edison spokesman Bob McGee, a resident of an adjacent building to the two collapsed reported that smelled gas inside his apartment, but thought the smell could come from outside . He said the utility company sent two crews shortly after 9:15 am, but arrived shortly after the explosion .
He would not speculate on if a gas leak caused the explosion .
" We are working with firefighters and checking gas lines ," he said . "We are working to isolate any leaks and secure the area ."
The neighborhood of East Harlem was paralyzed while riding police barricades to keep residents away from the building that still cast a thick air and eye irritant smoke. Some people wore surgical masks, while others faces with scarves or covering their own hands .
Sidewalks of blocks around were full of glass windows and broken windows. Witnesses said the explosion at the Park Avenue and 116th Street was so powerful it knocked the products off the shelves at nearby stores .
"It felt as if an earthquake had shaken my building," said Waldemar Infante , 24 , a doorman from a nearby residential building that was working in the basement when the explosion occurred . "There was broken glass everywhere on the floor and all the shops had their windows broken ."
The two buildings destroyed , the numbers 1644 and 1646 Park Avenue , were brick apartment buildings of five floors. One had a piano store on the first floor , the other a church.
The city of New York is very sensitive to this kind of explosions since the attacks of September 11, 2001 that left 3,000 dead.
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