APJuly 18: Firefighters respond to a blast in mitown Manhattan.
BREAKING NEWS:
NEW YORK — A steam explosion tore through a Manhattan street Wednesday night about a block from crowded Grand Central Terminal at the height of the evening rush hour, sending residents running for cover amid a plume of steam and ash.
WNBC-TV reported one death at Bellevue Hospital where 14 people were being treated for injuries. Two people with criticial injuries are being treated at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center while a third is being evaluated for lesser injuries,said hospital spokeswoman Emily Berlanstein.
An eyewitness told WNBC that one of the injured appeared to have suffered severe burns.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said it was not terrorism related. There was no immediate word on injuries. Subway service was suspended because of the explosion.
Aerial video of the scene provided by FOX5 clearly showed a huge gaping hole in the middle of 41st Street, with a 20-foot tall geyser spewing brown mud on the cars and buses quickly abandoned by drivers.
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A titanic geyser of what appeared to be steam and mud continued to erupt from the center of 41st Street after the blast, generating a tremendous sustained roar.
Heiko H. Thieme, an investment banker in midtown, had mud splattered on his face, pants and shoes. He said the explosion was like a volcano.
"Everybody was a bit confused, everybody obviously thought of 9-11."
Darryl Green, who works with AT&T, said he could feel the buildings shake, so he and his colleagues dashed down 30 flights of stairs.
"As we came out onto the street, the whole street was dark with smoke," he said.
A small school bus was abandoned just feet from the spot where the steam jet spewed from the ground.
Millions of pounds of steam are pumped beneath New York City streets every hour, heating and cooling thousands of buildings, including the Empire State Building.
The steam pipes are sometimes prone to rupture, however. In 1989, a gigantic steam explosion ripped through a street, killing three people and sending mud and debris several stories into the air.
That explosion was caused by a condition known as "water hammer," the result of condensation of water inside a steam pipe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
