'Explosion' rocks NYC building

Multiple injuries...Heavy smoke pours from the debris as the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) responds to a building collapse in Harlem. Picture: Getty Source: AFP

AT least one person was killed and at least 17 injured after a residential building exploded and collapsed the East Harlem area of Manhattan.

Law officials said at least one person had died in the blast, which is being investigated as a gas explosion, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Gas company Con Ed said the utility had recieved a call about a possible gas leak in the building around 9.13am local time (12.13 AEDT) and a truck was on the way at the time of the explosion.

On the scene...Firefighters respond to a five-alarm fire and building collapse in Harlem that killed at least one person. Picture: Getty Source: AFP

Firefighters and emergency first responders are on the scene as clouds of dark smoke billowed over the neighbourhood. The fire department said it sent nearly 170 members to the scene.

The pavement for blocks around the building in Harlem were littered with broken glass from shattered storefront and apartment windows.

Trauma...An injured man is assisted near the scene of an explosion and building collapse at Park Avenue and East 116th Street in the Harlem section of New York. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Witnesses say the blast was so powerful it knocked groceries off the shelves of nearby stores.

Police, some wearing gas and medical masks, handed out medical masks to residents and onlookers because of the thick white smoke that shrouded the area.

Rescue workers showed up to the building near the corner of East 116th and Park Avenue at around 9.30am local time (12.30am AEDT), the New York Post reports.

Officials confirmed that the blast brought down the five story buildings on Park Avenue near the corner of East 116th Street, reducing them to rubble.

Gas leak reported...Bystanders two blocks away watch the scene of an explosion and building collapse in Harlem. One person is confirmed dead at 16 others injured. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Local resident Eoin Hayes, 26, said he heard the explosion at about 9.30am, ran to the window and saw flames consuming one building and smoke rising into the air.

"I was in my bedroom and the explosion went off, it kind of shook the whole building,'' Mr Hayes said.

"You could feel the vibrations going through the building.''

Mr Hayes said the fire consumed one building and then moved to the one next to it before the flames eventually subsided.

The two buildings affected were a piano shop with apartments above, and a building that houses a church, The New York Post reports.

On the scene...Rescue workers remove an injured person on a stretcher after an explosion and two buildings collapsed in the East Harlem neighbourhood of New York. Picture: AP Source: AP

The FDNY said numerous people had been injured.

"It was an explosion and a building collapsed," a NYPD spokesman said.

"The whole building shook," said a worker at the nearby Tulcingo Travel. "I think people must be injured. I see a lot of smoke.

"Something just blew up on the east-side of Harlem. Felt it all the way in apt 20 floors up. Sister woke up thinking it was an earthquake," posted @Mrodrig223 on Twitter.

Buildings collapsed...Firefighters respond after an explosion and building collapse in Harlem. Picture: AP Source: AFP

Multiple ambulances were requested to respond to the scene.

Witness reported smelling gas in the weeks prior to the explosion.

"It smelled like gas, it always smells of gas around here," said Julie Mark, a local resident. "There were people everywhere crying."

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