NEW YORK — Several buildings in a Bronx neighborhood were evacuated Sunday morning after a gas main ruptured.
The FDNY said at least three people were injured. Video shows the chaotic moments it all began.
Bedford Park residents describe what happened
Smoke filled the air in front of 379 Bedford Park Blvd., a busy street with businesses and residential buildings, at around 9:40 a.m.
“First, it was a bang. By the grace of God we are alive,” resident John Infante said.
“We left like 10 minutes before the explosion and my mother-in-law, she called us to see if we were okay,” Leurmills Mercedes said. “But the smell was pretty hard to breathe so we got some masks.”
The FDNY said the gas main ruptured. More than 100 firefighters worked to shut off gas to the immediate area and evacuate homes. Making matters worse, the Bronx has one of the highest asthma rates in the country.
“You can’t breathe that. People got respiratory problems,” Infante said.
CBS News New York saw several people being treated by paramedics. The FDNY said they all had minor injuries. One man said in Spanish his relative suffers from high blood pressure and was feeling dizzy.
“The pressure’s like 184,” Alejandro Perez said. “The trauma of smelling the gas and getting out of bed that early in the morning, it traumatized her.”
Did ongoing road work have anything to do with it?
People who live in the area said work has been done on and off on the road for quite some time.
“This was like a construction down the street that they were fixing the pipe,” Mercedes said.
“The problem is these guys break and then they open. They break and they open. Six months they’ve been at this thing and this is the biggest waste of money,” Infante said.
Con Edison crews remained on scene making repairs to return gas service to the immediate area by the end of the day. CBS News New York did ask the company for more details on what residents called a construction project, but didn’t hear back.
The FDNY did not announce the cause, but did say the Department of Buildings was on scene.
