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At least seven people, including Hunter College security guard Griselde Camacho were killed and scores of others were injured when a gas explosion, ignited a blast, which leveled two buildings in East Harlem New York on Wednesday morning, officials said, as reported by DNA Info.
The blast "shattered nearby windows and sent debris onto elevated Metro-North tracks and filling the surrounding neighborhood with thick smoke," according to news reports.
Griselde Camacho died from injuries suffered as a result of the building collapse, Hunter College said.
"There are a number of missing," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing on early Wednesday afternoon.
"God forbid there are some in that building... This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people. We've lost two people already," the mayor added.
"The identities of the other two women were not released, which contain a church, a piano shop and several residential units, officials and witnesses said," DNA Info also reported.
One woman was trapped in her apartment near the blast when rubble blocked the door.
"The walls started to crumble and the windows were gone. I thought I was going to die. I thought about my three kids and said, 'I can't die.' I started yelling, 'Help me, help me!'" the woman said. A neighbor kicked her door down and freed her, according to news reports.
Sources said it could take "a few days" to complete the search and rescue mission, which began in earnest on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's going to be a long extended operation and we want to make sure we can get through that debris as quickly as possible," said FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano.
Ruiz-Moran, who lives a block from the scene and ran outside when he heard the blast, said he got within half a block of the building.
"It felt like an earthquake had rattled my whole building," Waldemar Infante, a porter who was working in a basement in the area told the Associated Press.
"There were glass shards everywhere on the ground, and all the stores had their windows blown out," the porter added.
The mayor said the explosion occurred at 9:31 a.m. ET, only minutes before a Con Ed utilities team arrived on the scene to check on reports of a natural gas leak.
As residents gathered near the scene, white smoke still billowed up from the debris in waves and left a chalky taste in the air. "I saw the people on the ground," said one man.
The Metro-North service into and out of Grand Central Terminal was suspended because of debris on the elevated train tracks.
