Explosion in NYC 1 dead
Posted: July 18, 2007 7:12 pm
Steam explosion jolts NYC, killing 1
More than a dozen hospitalized; incident not terrorism-related, officials say
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 8:25 p.m. ET July 18, 2007
NEW YORK - A steam explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday during the evening rush hour, killing one person, injuring more than a dozen others and sparking a brief panic about another terror attack.
"It is a steam pipe explosion — not terrorism," New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne told WNBC-TV.
One of 12 people taken to Bellevue Hospital later died, a spokesman said. Two others who were seriously injured were being treated at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center. They were in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Emily Berlanstein. A third patient with lesser injuries was also being evaluated, she said.
"There is absolutely no reason to believe this was anything but a failure of our infrastructure," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an outdoor news conference Wednesday evening.
The mayor said a 24-inch steam pipe installed in 1924 broke, with the explosion most likely caused by the introduction of cold water into the pipe.
Subway service was suspended because of the explosion.
A geyser of water and steam, sometimes white and sometimes muddy brown, shot into the air from a gaping hole in the street near the train station and was as high as the nearby Chrysler Building. The air near the site was filled with debris.
Heiko H. Thieme, an investment banker in midtown, had mud splattered on his face, pants and shoes. He said the explosion was like a volcano.
“Everybody was a bit confused. Everybody obviously thought of 9/11,” Thieme said.
Darryl Green, who works with AT&T, said he could feel the buildings shake, so he and his colleagues dashed down 30 flights of stairs.
“As we came out onto the street, the whole street was dark with smoke,” he said.
Commuters flee Grand Central
Large crowds of homeward-bound commuters milled in the streets around Grand Central Terminal, nervously sharing information. Inside the station, food vendors hurried to store their carts and yelled to commuters that they had been ordered to evacuate. Commuters pouring into the station began turning around to exit to the street.
For some time after the explosion, no uniformed police or emergency personnel could be seen at the northern Madison Avenue entrance to Grand Central, a major entry point to the station, according to NBC News' Mark Lukasiewicz. Commuters there relied on cell phones, passersby and Blackberries to decide whether it was safe to enter the station.
The blast occurred near the south end of the station, along Lexington Avenue.
A small school bus was abandoned just feet from the spot where the jet spewed from the ground.
A witness reported that a building had collapsed, but New York City police said the building had not fallen but was "shaky."
"There was a thundering noise like a hundred freight trains going by and a plume of what looks like steam as high as 10 stories," said former Reuters correspondent Irwin Arieff.
Utility company Consolidated Edison said there was an operational problem in the area and crews were responding but had no more immediate information.
Millions of pounds of steam are pumped beneath New York City streets every hour, heating and cooling thousands of buildings, including the Empire State Building.
The steam pipes are sometimes prone to rupture, however. In 1989, a gigantic steam explosion ripped through a street, killing three people and sending mud and debris several stories into the air.
That explosion was caused by a condition known as “water hammer,” the result of condensation of water inside a steam pipe.
This breaking story will be updated as details become available.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News' Mark Lukasiewicz contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19837147/
More than a dozen hospitalized; incident not terrorism-related, officials say
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 8:25 p.m. ET July 18, 2007
NEW YORK - A steam explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday during the evening rush hour, killing one person, injuring more than a dozen others and sparking a brief panic about another terror attack.
"It is a steam pipe explosion — not terrorism," New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne told WNBC-TV.
One of 12 people taken to Bellevue Hospital later died, a spokesman said. Two others who were seriously injured were being treated at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center. They were in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Emily Berlanstein. A third patient with lesser injuries was also being evaluated, she said.
"There is absolutely no reason to believe this was anything but a failure of our infrastructure," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an outdoor news conference Wednesday evening.
The mayor said a 24-inch steam pipe installed in 1924 broke, with the explosion most likely caused by the introduction of cold water into the pipe.
Subway service was suspended because of the explosion.
A geyser of water and steam, sometimes white and sometimes muddy brown, shot into the air from a gaping hole in the street near the train station and was as high as the nearby Chrysler Building. The air near the site was filled with debris.
Heiko H. Thieme, an investment banker in midtown, had mud splattered on his face, pants and shoes. He said the explosion was like a volcano.
“Everybody was a bit confused. Everybody obviously thought of 9/11,” Thieme said.
Darryl Green, who works with AT&T, said he could feel the buildings shake, so he and his colleagues dashed down 30 flights of stairs.
“As we came out onto the street, the whole street was dark with smoke,” he said.
Commuters flee Grand Central
Large crowds of homeward-bound commuters milled in the streets around Grand Central Terminal, nervously sharing information. Inside the station, food vendors hurried to store their carts and yelled to commuters that they had been ordered to evacuate. Commuters pouring into the station began turning around to exit to the street.
For some time after the explosion, no uniformed police or emergency personnel could be seen at the northern Madison Avenue entrance to Grand Central, a major entry point to the station, according to NBC News' Mark Lukasiewicz. Commuters there relied on cell phones, passersby and Blackberries to decide whether it was safe to enter the station.
The blast occurred near the south end of the station, along Lexington Avenue.
A small school bus was abandoned just feet from the spot where the jet spewed from the ground.
A witness reported that a building had collapsed, but New York City police said the building had not fallen but was "shaky."
"There was a thundering noise like a hundred freight trains going by and a plume of what looks like steam as high as 10 stories," said former Reuters correspondent Irwin Arieff.
Utility company Consolidated Edison said there was an operational problem in the area and crews were responding but had no more immediate information.
Millions of pounds of steam are pumped beneath New York City streets every hour, heating and cooling thousands of buildings, including the Empire State Building.
The steam pipes are sometimes prone to rupture, however. In 1989, a gigantic steam explosion ripped through a street, killing three people and sending mud and debris several stories into the air.
That explosion was caused by a condition known as “water hammer,” the result of condensation of water inside a steam pipe.
This breaking story will be updated as details become available.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News' Mark Lukasiewicz contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19837147/
