Two still missing from Harlem church in the wake of gas explosion as death toll hits 7
The Christian evangelical church at the center of the Harlem building collapse are still missing at least two members as fire department officials change the death toll to seven.
Fire Department spokesman Danny Glover said Thursday morning the latest body was the fourth found overnight. Three bodies were found Wednesday following the massive explosion at the East Harlem address at Park Avenue and 116th streets.
There are six apartments above the church housing about 20 people, all of whom were members of the Spanish Christian Church. All morning, church members have been frantically working to account for everyone in the building in the wake of Wednesday’s shocknig gas explosion.
“We know who was safe, but there are those who we don’t know anything about,” Carmen Vargas-Rosa, a lifelong member of the Christian evangelical church said in an AP article.
Fire officials say at least 60 people were hurt in the fiery blast that erupted about 15 minutes after a neighboring resident reported smelling natural gas.
Mayor Bill de Blasio met with emergency workers at the site on Thursday morning and was scheduled to provide an update on the investigation at 11 a.m.
More than 60 people were treated for injuries at local hospitals; most were treated and released. Two people remained in critical condition, including a 15-year-old boy.
[…] workers pull away the debris and wreckage from the Harlem gas explosion, the pastor of the church inside paid a visit to the site, only to suffer a heart attack brought on […]