An explosion along a Manhattan sidewalk rattled nerves as it sent huge chunks of concrete flying into the air — but miraculously, no one was hurt, according to officials.
The incident occurred just after noon on Friday along East 48th Street between Third Avenue and Lexington Avenue, according to officials from the FDNY and the Department of Buildings. Video obtained by NBC New York showed people walking along the sidewalk underneath scaffolding when suddenly an explosion tore through the ground.
Dave Singh works at the building right where the blast occurred, and was seen on the video just steps away when the blast went off.
“At that moment we didn’t even think about it, we were just scared and ran out of here. It was it was scary,” Singh told NBC New York, adding that he “just saw the whole pavement come up and ran away.”
First responders rushed to the scene after getting reports of manhole fires, and checked surrounding buildings. The explosion was heard and felt across the street as well.
“All of a sudden it blows up. The whole sidewalk came up — explosion!” said Rafael Maldonado. “Things going up in the air. Stuff sprinkling out. It’s crazy.”
A nearby restaurant was evacuated immediately afterward and firefighters rushed to put out flames on the street. Neither the FDNY nor the DOB reported any injuries. The fire department said there was no structural damage to the 36-story apartment building at the scene.
“It might have been gas stuck in between the sidewalk and the building. Con Ed is investigating,” said FDNY Deputy Chief Claude Hagen. “There might have been a leak and being there’s no ventilation it eventually went into explosive levels and blew underneath the sidewalk.”
Con Edison said it shut down power and gas to the apartment building, and would run a temporary line for power to the building until everything was repaired.
Investigators with the DOB determined that the blast was an electrical explosion under the front sidewalk of the apartment building, but a cause for the blast wasn’t clear. An investigation was ongoing. It was not immediately clear how long the investigation might last or when 48th Street east of Lexington Avenue would reopen.
