A high-rise apartment building in New York’s Bronx borough has partially collapsed following a gas explosion.
The explosion happened at YCHA’s Mitchel Houses on Alexander Avenue just after 8am, according to ABC 7.
There are no immediate reports of injuries, but first responders are using dogs and drones to help sift through the rubble just to be sure no one was injured in the collapse.
According to the New York Fire Department, the blast caused an incinerator shaft attached to the building to collapse. The rest of the 17-story building appear to have been left unaffected. No damage has been reported to any of the apartments at this time.
No injuries were initially reported, according to the FDNY.
An apartment building in the Bronx suffered a partial collapse following a gas explosion (Citizen)
New York Mayor Eric Adams said he was aware of the situation and was monitoring the response.
“I have been briefed about the emergency situation taking place in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx. We are getting a full assessment from first responders and will continue to provide updates. Please avoid the area for your safety.”
The incinerator shaft on a high-rise apartment building in the Bronx has collapsed after a gas explosion shook the building. (AP)
A neighbor who had called the city to report seeing smoke near the building witnessed the explosion and subsequent collapse.
“I was explaining to the lady what I saw, and she was like, ‘Hold on, let me transfer you to the fire department,’” she told WCBS. “Before she was about to do the transfer, the whole building just – you heard a loud boom, and the thing just exploded. And it fall down just like that.”
Another resident told ABC 7 that the explosion sounded “like a bomb.”
In addition to. the FDNY and the NYPD, the city’s Buildings Department and the Department of Environmental Protection responded to the scene. Investigators determined that the explosion also destroyed an underground water main.
Con Edison has shut off gas to the building site.
This is a developing story.
