FITZGERALD
NEW YORK
(AP) — With
most of the
rubble of two
New York City
apartment
buildings
cleared away,
investigators
hope to uncover the cause of an explosion that
flattened them, killed eight people.
City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said
Saturday that investigators should be able to get to
the gas pipes and meters in the front of the
buildings' basements Sunday, adding, "We'll be in
full swing with the investigation."
Arson detectives and fire marshals have been
waiting to enter the basements to examine meters,
check pipes and inspect any possible ignition
sources, such as light switches, that might have
caused the blast.
Cassano said all but 15 percent of the rubble from
the buildings had been cleared away late Saturday.
The theory that Wednesday's explosion was due to
a gas leak gained momentum Friday after the
National Transportation Safety Board, which
investigates pipeline accidents, said underground
tests conducted in the hours after the explosion
registered high concentrations of natural gas. The
NTSB will conduct its own inquiry after police and
fire officials determine what might have caused the
explosion.
An uplifting moment from the painstaking recovery
effort came Saturday as crews pulled a large water-
damaged Bible from the rubble of the Spanish
Christian Church, which had been located in one of
the two buildings. About two dozen people carried
the Bible in a solemn procession near the East
Harlem site.
Rick Del Rio, pastor of Abounding Grace church in
Manhattan, and New York City Public Advocate
"This was in the depths of the rubble. Somehow
God protected it," said Rick del Rio, a bishop at the
Church of God.
The Rev. Thomas Perez, pastor of the Spanish
Christian Church, had heart palpitations when he
saw the Bible, said Letitia James, the city's public
advocate. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital
as a precaution, supporters said.
Cassano said Perez was overwhelmed with
emotion.
"It was singed, but it meant an awful lot to the
pastor," he said. "It showed the pastor that they'll
be rebuilding."
Truckloads of scattered material will be sifted for
any traces of human remains that might not have
been found at the site, Cassano said. Although the
bodies of all eight people reported missing have
been recovered, the rescue operation was
continuing in case others may be buried beneath
the rubble, he said.
More than 60 people were injured in the explosion,
and more than 100 others were displaced.
Police have identified six of those who died:
Griselde Camacho, 45, a Hunter College security
officer; Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist who
participated in church-sponsored medical missions
to Africa and the Caribbean; Andreas
Panagopoulos, 43, a musician; Rosaura Hernandez,
22, a restaurant cook from Mexico; George
Ameado, 44, a handyman who lived in one of the
buildings that collapsed; and Alexis Salas, 22, a
restaurant worker.
Mexican officials said another Mexican woman,
Rosaura Barrios Vazquez, 43, was among those
killed.
The name of the eighth person recovered, a
woman, hasn't been released.
After touring a Red Cross shelter where some of the
displaced residents have been housed temporarily,
Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged his support to find
suitable temporary or long-term housing options
for those displaced.
Workers survey an area covered in rubble Friday,
March 14, 2014, two days after a natural gas
explosion
"It's our obligation as the city of New York, and I
know all New Yorkers feel this way, to stand by
them," he said.
De Blasio planned to attend a service Sunday at a
church near the blast site that lost two members in
the explosion, the Bethel Gospel Assembly.
Investigators were trying to determine whether the
explosion had anything to do with the city's aging
gas and water mains, some of which were installed
in the 1800s. More than 30,000 miles of decades-
old, decaying cast-iron pipe still are being used to
deliver gas nationwide, according to U.S.
Transportation Department estimates.
Fire and utility officials said that if the buildings
were plagued in recent days or weeks by strong
gas odors, as some tenants contend, they have no
evidence anyone reported it before Wednesday. An
Associated Press analysis of the city's 311 calls
database from Jan. 1, 2013, through Tuesday also
found no calls from the buildings about gas.
The blast erupted about 15 minutes after someone
from a neighboring building reported smelling gas,
authorities said. Con Edison said it immediately
sent workers to check out the report but they got
there too late.
Sent From David Aniemeka
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