Children Expected To Survive After Gas Explosion Rocks Bronx Apartment Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Ten people, mostly children, are recovering from injuries suffered in a gas explosion Thursday in the Bronx.
As CBS2's Natalie Duddridge reports, the house now has its windows boarded up. A crumpled door lies on the ground. Thursday, that same door dangled dramatically from a power line, blown right across the street, when a gas explosion rocked the apartment building on Paulding Avenue in the Morris Park section around 3 p.m.
"It was just a boom, and everything exploded," said Taiz Cepeda.
Video shows Norma Galarza carrying her neighbor's baby girl, who was hurt in the blast.
"The baby had her hair burned, eyelashes burned. She's a 6 month old baby, I was so scared for her life," Galarza said.
The child's mother - trapped on the second floor - dropped her infant and 4-year-old daughter out the window, down to the safety of neighbors.
"I was begging her to throw her because she wanted to but she was scared... but when I took my coat off and she saw the baby had something to fall on," Galarza said. "She threw her, and I grabbed -- she fell on my coat -- and I grabbed her like that."
The FDNY was able to save the mother and rescue everyone else from the building. In total, 10 people were injured, six of them children. Eight people were taken to Jacobi Hospital. One firefighter was also hurt.
Two of the kids were listed in critical condition but have since been updated to serious but stable.
"I'm actually a veteran. It reminded me of being in Afghanistan, being attacked by a mortar round," said neighbor Yanely Rodriguez.
Cinderblocks were blown right off the house. Debris now litters the driveway.
The Department of Buildings is looking into the gas plumbing system as the cause.
"Gas explosions [are] uncommon but they do happen. You know, you have a source of ignition, this is what can happen," said FDNY Deputy Chief John Sarrocco.
Two displaced families are now staying in temporary housing, assisted by the Red Cross.
"Con Edison is working with the FDNY and other agencies at the scene of yesterday's explosion at 1520 Paulding Avenue in the Bronx. The cause is under investigation," Con Edison said in a statement. "We remind everyone if you smell gas, leave the area immediately and call 911 or Con Edison at 1-800-752-6633. Our thoughts are with the people who were injured and their families."
