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 Authorities toiled overnight, parsing a smoking pile of bricks and
twisted metal — at one point three stories high — in an effort to
find any remaining victims.
The explosion at about 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday shook the East
Harlem neighborhood shortly after a resident complained to the Con
Edison utility about a gas odor.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which reviews
natural gas-related accidents, had said it was having trouble
getting close enough to examine the main pipe that supplies natural
gas to the Upper East Side neighborhood.
When firefighters deem the area safe, investigators will conduct a
pressure test on the pipe to determine the location of the leak that
may have caused the blast.
"We have eight victims found at this point. We are still in rescue,
recovery operations," New York Fire Department spokesman Brian
Norton said on Friday morning. "We do not stop until we are 100
percent sure there is nobody left."
Search and rescue efforts will continue on Friday even though there
are no known victims still missing, police said.
Five women and three men were killed, police said on Friday, but not
all victim identities have been released. The latest victim was
female and pulled from the rubble late on Thursday.
The dead include Griselde Camacho, 44, a public safety officer for
Hunter College in East Harlem; Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist;
Rosaura Hernandez, 21, and Andreas Panagopoulos, 43.
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At least three children were hurt; two were treated for minor
injuries and released, while a third was in critical condition,
hospital officials said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said 40 people were injured,
though he declined to say how many remain unaccounted for. Police
earlier said five people are still missing.
The two buildings in a largely residential block at East 116th
Street and Park Avenue housed 15 apartments, a ground-floor church
and a piano store.
Passersby in the primarily Latino neighborhood donned dust masks or
wrapped winter scarves around their faces to limit inhalation of
dust and smoke.
The main, low-pressure gas distribution line that runs along Park
Avenue was still intact, the NTSB said. Service lines carry gas into
buildings from that main pipe.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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