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NEW YORK (AP) — An apparent gas explosion has leveled an apartment building, largely destroyed another and launched rubble and shards of glass across streets in Manhattan's trendy East Village, injuring 19 people.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says preliminary evidence suggests a gas explosion Thursday amid plumbing and gas work inside the building that collapsed is to blame.
Con Edison President Craig Ivey says inspectors from the utility had been at the building to check on a planned meter installation an hour before the fire. But he says the work failed the inspection, partly because a space for the new meters wasn't big enough.
Firefighters say at least 19 people have been hurt, four critically, some with burns to their airways. De Blasio says it doesn't appear that anyone's missing.
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