NYC Building Collapses After Blast, Fire
Jul 10 9:57 AM US/Eastern
By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK
A three-story building housing a doctor's office just off Madison Avenue collapsed and burned Monday after what witnesses said was a thunderous explosion that rocked the neighborhood.
The cause was not immediately known, though White House press secretary Tony Snow said there was no indication of terrorism.
At least two people were under evaluation at a hospital after the collapse. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was still trapped inside the building, on 62nd street between Madison and Park Avenues on Manhattan's East Side.
Heavy black smoke rose high above the building, wedged between taller structures on 62nd Street between Park and Madison Avenues just a few blocks from Central Park. Damage, including shattered windows, could be seen at one of the adjoining buildings.
Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard "a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me."
"Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next," he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.
Thad Milonas, 57, was operating a coffee cart across from the building when he said the ground shook and the building came down, said he helped two bleeding women from the scene.
Streets around the area were closed off to traffic as ambulances and rescue units raced to the area just before 9 a.m.
TV host Larry King, who had been in a hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.
"I've never heard a sound like that," King said.
Jul 10 9:57 AM US/Eastern
By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK
A three-story building housing a doctor's office just off Madison Avenue collapsed and burned Monday after what witnesses said was a thunderous explosion that rocked the neighborhood.
The cause was not immediately known, though White House press secretary Tony Snow said there was no indication of terrorism.
At least two people were under evaluation at a hospital after the collapse. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was still trapped inside the building, on 62nd street between Madison and Park Avenues on Manhattan's East Side.
Heavy black smoke rose high above the building, wedged between taller structures on 62nd Street between Park and Madison Avenues just a few blocks from Central Park. Damage, including shattered windows, could be seen at one of the adjoining buildings.
Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard "a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me."
"Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next," he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.
Thad Milonas, 57, was operating a coffee cart across from the building when he said the ground shook and the building came down, said he helped two bleeding women from the scene.
Streets around the area were closed off to traffic as ambulances and rescue units raced to the area just before 9 a.m.
TV host Larry King, who had been in a hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.
"I've never heard a sound like that," King said.
