36 updates
12 March 2014

Seventh person confirmed killed in New York gas explosion

Seven people have been killed and 74 injured after a gas explosion caused two residential buildings to collapse in New York. 168 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze.

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The bodies of all eight people reported missing after a gas explosion destroyed two New York apartment buildings have been recovered, but workers are treating the scene as a rescue operation in case there are survivors in the rubble.

An excavator clears debris at the site of a building explosion in the Harlem section of New York Credit: Reuters

Fire commissioner Salvatore Cassano said no one else is known to be unaccounted for but workers will continue to scour the debris from the flattened buildings for victims.

He predicted detectives and fire marshals would soon gain access to the buildings' basements to begin the investigation into what caused the explosion.

"Right now we are in the process of removing the final amount of debris," Mr Cassano said. "We should be moving much more quickly now."

Read: Seventh person confirmed killed in New York gas explosion

A police spokesperson has confirmed to Associated Press that the death toll following the explosion at an apartment block in New York has risen to seven.

Seventy four people were also left injured after two buildings collapsed following a gas leak explosion in Harlem.

The New York Fire Department has confirmed to Associated Press that a sixth person has died following a gas explosion at an apartment block in east Harlem yesterday.

74 people were also injured in the explosion, which happened at an apartment building. Credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

A NYPD spokesman has confirmed to Associated Press that a fifth person has died following the Harlem gas explosion after a body was discovered in the rubble.

The death toll in the New York gas leak explosion has risen to four, officials confirmed.

New York City emergency responders work at the site of a building explosion and collapse in the Harlem. Credit: Reuters

Seventy four people were injured and others are missing after two buildings collapsed following a gas leak explosion in Harlem, NBC New York reported.

"This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio said.

Read: College worker and dental hygienist among NY dead

Authorities in New York have released the identities of two of the three victims of a gas leak explosion in the city.

Three people were killed in the blast in Harlem on Wednesday Credit: NBC New York

Griselde Camacho, a public safety officer at a public Manhattan college and Carmen Tanco, a dental hygienist died in the blast, NBC New York reported, citing officials.

The identity of the third victim has not yet been made public.

Watch: Firefighters working on New York building collapse

The New York City fire department has released footage of its fire crews working on the building that collapsed after a gas explosion in the city today, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more.