Posted on Mar 12, 2014
At least 3 people were killed, more than 60 injured and treated at hospitals, and others are missing after two 1900s era masonry apartment buildings exploded from a gas leak in East Harlem. On Wednesday just before 9:30 a.m., a call had come in to Con Edison from an adjacent building to report a strong odor of gas. Then the explosion occurred, quickly collapsing the brittle 4-story and 6-story buildings at East 116th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Witnesses reported the blast sounded like a bomb or an earthquake. Windows were blown out of buildings blocks away. And Metro-North shut down its rail service in the area for some time to clear tracks of debris and inspect its rail lines for safety after the blast.
Several children were injured, at least one critically, in the tragedy. And rescue workers were searching the rubble for the missing. Neighbors and families gathered to try and find out if their loved ones were safe. The thoughts and prayers of the apartment building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC are with the victims and their families and those who are still searching for loved ones after the terrible accident.
Reports mention that one of the buildings had more than 70 feet of gas pipeline replaced in June. And the other building had paid a fine relating to vertical cracks in the back of the building. (nbcnews.com; Alex Napoliello, NJ.com The Star-Ledger; and Chicago Tribune, 3/12/14) Authorities, including the NTSB, are busy investigating the precise cause(s) of the East Harlem tragedy.
Our apartment building collapse attorneys point out that the vertical cracks might have been signs of structural weaknesses that could have made the old masonry structure even more vulnerable to the explosive forces of the blast than its neighbors. Old masonry structures are better on average at supporting the vertical forces of the building and its occupants than modern light construction. These older buildings take longer to collapse during fires than newer ones. But they are not designed to withstand bending or thrusting forces from the side, which can easily snap support columns. Click the link to learn about how older masonry structures can withstand fires (but usually not explosions) better than many modern structures, allowing occupants greater time to escape before they collapse.
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