Developing: Two NYC Buildings Collapse After Possible Explosion

[DonViejo]

By Josh Voorhees

-snip- (picture)

New York firefighters and first-responders are currently on the scene in Upper Manhattan/East Harlem, where two multi-use buildings in a residential area are believed to have partially collapsed after an apparent explosion this morning.
Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like a loud blast at the location ahead of the collapse, and the images currently coming in over the air and via social media are showing massive amounts of smoke coming from where a building once stood. Here's the New York Times with a sketch of the current scene:

Flames and smoke could be seen billowing from the street, and video from the scene showed broken windows in neighboring buildings. The authorities closed 116th Street from Fifth Avenue to Lexington Avenue. ...

Metro-North Railroad service was suspended, officials said, since debris from the building landed on the elevated train tracks on 116th Street and Park Avenue. Fire officials said that they had reports of a fire and building collapse around 9:30 a.m. and were just arriving on the scene. They cautioned that many details remained unclear.

A fire department spokesman tells Reuters that the incident took place near East 114th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem. NBC News is reporting at least 16 people have been injured, four of them seriously, although that number may very well climb once the smoke clears. ABC News reports that the FBI is on the scene but only as a precaution, and that there is "currently no indication of terror or crime." Con Edison officials, meanwhile, are also in the area and, according to CNN, there were reports of a gas leak in the area earlier this morning, suggesting the working theory appears to be a possible gas explosion.

more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/03/12/reports_nyc_building_collapses_after_possible_explosion.html?

[snooper2]

1. I wonder where and when the first conspiracy will show up on the intertubes-

We should monitor loser alex jones and that stupid counterpunch website

[AZ Mike]

2. Boiler/Gas line explosion?

Doesn't seem like a place to target. Perhaps this relates to equipment or infrastructure. Otherwise, a preparation facility for a plot-gone-bad is the only nefarious scenario I can imagine.