Workers still regard search as rescue
Print Edition
WORKERS searching a pile of rubble from a gas explosion in New York City continued to treat it yesterday as a rescue operation, holding onto the possibility of finding survivors from a blast that brought down two apartment buildings and killed at least eight people.
Crews used sound devices to probe for voices and telescopic cameras to peer into small spaces. The search work was slow going, with 40 percent to 50 percent of the debris removed by Thursday evening.
“We have to think of survivors and work in that way, with hope,” said Fire Department of New York Chief Edward Kilduff.
Police said yesterday that at least one person remained unaccounted for after the deafening blast on Wednesday morning destroyed two five-story East Harlem apartment buildings at Park Avenue and 116th Street that were served by an 1887 cast-iron gas main. More than 60 people were injured.
“We are still in a search and rescue mode,” a fire department spokesman said.
Investigators were trying to pinpoint the leak and determine whether it had anything to do with the city’s aging gas and water mains, some from the 1800s.
Kilduff said a fire was still burning, and the force of the explosion collapsed and pancaked layers of floors. A back wall that is still freestanding posed a collapse hazard.
Workers planned to spend a full day removing debris at the site yesterday, and hoped to make it reach first floor by today, then move to the basement.
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