Two dead and at least 30 injured after gas leak levels two Manhattan apartment buildings in massive explosion

An apartment building on 116th and Park Avenue in East Harlem burst into flames shortly after 9am after residents reported smelling gas

The building suspected of causing the explosion is at 1644-1646 Park Ave and houses a Spanish Christian Church on the first floor

At least two fatalities have been reported with around 30 others injured

At least two of the victims are being treated for serious life-threatening injuries

There were 15 units between the two demolished buildings

A Red Cross shelter has been set up at nearby PS 176

Nine to 12 others are feared missing

More than 250 firefighters  are on the scene battling the flames and digging through the debris searching for survivors

One witness reported seeing residents in the building flying out when the blast hit

Police say this is not a terrorist attack

Residents are feared trapped in rubble after two Manhattan apartment buildings were leveled in a gas-leak explosion in the East Harlem neighborhood this morning, killing two women and injuring at least 30 others. 
Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that the explosion was caused by a gas leak, at an afternoon briefing.
The leak was reported to ConEdison at 9:13am and crews were dispatched two minutes later but by the time they arrived, the building on the corner of 116th and Park Avenue had already burst into flames.
The 30 injured are being treated at four area hospitals, with at least two of the victims suffering from serious life-threatening injuries. Nine to 12 others are missing, an NYPD source told the New York Daily News.
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Firefighters battle the flames and billowing smoke after a powerful explosion in East Harlem, New York City on Wednesday morning

The devastating scene where two buildings collapsed shortly after a resident in an adjacent building called Con Edison to say she smelled gas

Firefighters work the scene of an explosion as flames leap up the towering heap of rubble

The NYPD help residents at the scene of the massive explosion in Harlem on Wednesday morning

An aerial view of the two collapsed buildings as firefighters search for survivors and battle to get the flames under control

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the site of an alleged powerful explosion in East Harlem, New York. The interior of the building is seen completely destroyed

The smoking rubble of the site of a suspected building collapse in Harlem, New York City on Wednesday

Rescue workers remove an injured person on a stretcher after an explosion and building collapse in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York

A man covers a child's face as he runs from a building near to the explosion in East Harlem on Wednesday morning

 

Rescue workers evacuate victims of NYC buildings collapse

The FDNY respond to a 5-alarm fire and building collapse at 1646 Park Ave in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan this morning

Uptown: The blast happened at a building on the corner of 116th and Park Avenue in Manhattan's East Harlem neighbourhood