NYC building collapse

On Thursday afternoon, more than 200 firefighters converged to battle the resulting blaze that affected four buildings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said there were no reports of
missing persons, but noted that the situation was
fluid.
Officials said they believe work was being done to
the building's gas utilities before the blast.
The explosion triggered a fire in a building that
housed a sushi restaurant. The blaze then quickly
spread to adjacent buildings, official said.
Emergency dispatchers started received calls
reporting the incident around 15:17 local time
(19:17 GMT) and emergency services were on the
scene in about three minutes, city officials said.
The buildings on Second Avenue at East Seventh
Street are near New York University and the
Washington Square Park area.
Manhattan's East Village is a neighbourhood of
small businesses, restaurants and apartments.
Thick plumes of dark smoke could be seen across
Manhattan on Thursday.
Ben Mackinnon, 28, said he was drinking coffee in
a cafe when he heard an explosion from across
the street.
"The explosion was big enough that the door of
the cafe blew open," Mackinnon told Reuters.
Outside he saw several bloodied men emerge
from the sushi restaurant.
Source: BBC.com