1 dead, 5 police officers among the injured in suspected gas explosion in Bronx
A woman is dead after a fire and collapse Tuesday at a Bronx home. Five police officers and at least two other civilians were injured, the NYPD said.
The fire department responded to a call about an explosion Tuesday morning, NYFD Chief John Hodgens said during an afternoon press conference. When authorities arrived at the scene they found two sisters, who had been inside the building when it exploded, laying on the ground outside. Both had traumatic injuries from the explosion and were taken to a hospital. One woman died, and the other remains hospitalized in serious condition.
While searching the buildings adjacent to the one that had collapsed for other victims, authorities found a 68-year-old woman who was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatning injuries. She remains hospitalized in serious condition.
All three victims were in their 60s, and no other victims were found inside the building that collapsed or the neighboring buildings, Hodgens said.
Authorities did not provide an update during Tuesday's press conference on the condition of the police officers who were injured. According to CBS New York, all five were taken to Lincoln Hospital for smoke inhalation.
According to the fire chief, a caller reported the smell of gas earlier in the morning. However, the cause of the incident remains under investigation. There is no indication of foul play.
Con Edison shut down gas in the immediate area, according to CBS New York.
Three housing units were destroyed in the blaze and 200 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene.
"I was in my room, and my mom was the one that came to my room, yelling, like, 'Oh my God, I felt the room shake. Something must've happened,'" a neighbor said.
Video from the scene showed plumes of smoke climbing into the air. Large chunks of the building's façade can be seen strewn about. The structure partially collapsed.
Firefighters were attacking the fire from the outside because they remained concerned about a further collapse.
The incident comes days after one of the country's worst residential fires in decades ripped through an apartment building in the Bronx, killing 17 people, including eight children.
Officials blamed a malfunctioning space heater for that fire, which also injured dozens of residents.
