This is an insane video. This afternoon a major, ground-shaking explosion rocked a building in the East Village on 2nd Avenue and 7th. The explosion — cause still TBD, though believed to be a gas leak — was felt all around Manhattan, with debris from the building hitting pedestrians on the other side of 2nd Avenue.
Minutes later, the apartment building and a neighboring building erupted into flames. The situation blazed out of control, resulting in a terrifying seven alarm fire. According to reports, up to 30 people are injured.
In the time between the explosion and before the fire started, a girl trying to escape from the blown-out building found herself trapped on the third floor fire escape. Her rescue by civilian by-standers was caught on video by a Twitter user:
Major explosion on 2nd ave and 7th street. New Yorkers being awesome and helping this young lady get down! pic.twitter.com/YxGh2C68IP
— Niraj Desai (@nayramz) March 26, 2015
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Just after this video was taken, the whole building went up in flames. It also demolished the building next to it, home of the famous neighborhood fry joint Pomme Frites;
From the scene of the 2nd Ave building collapse http://t.co/HY5AjtbmeL pic.twitter.com/o9IPpxzajr
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) March 26, 2015
Flames quickly engulfed the building before it eventually collapsed:
Photos of the scene around 2nd Ave in East Village, NYC (via @EastVillageEats) pic.twitter.com/UZZe5EG9fh
— Austin Hunt (@AustinHunt) March 26, 2015
#BREAKING: Aerial view of building collapse @NYPD9Pct. Numerous rescue units on scene #SOD #ESU #K9 #Aviation #FD pic.twitter.com/d9iX4GOBUd
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) March 26, 2015
FDNY photo shows what firefighters are confronting. pic.twitter.com/GsBe4jfvkU
— Pervaiz Shallwani (@Pervaizistan) March 26, 2015
Thoughts and prayers to all. Hits especially close to home because I live not too far from there.