Rescuers combing the rubble of two collapsed East Harlem apartment buildings discovered a seventh victim early Thursday as they continued to search for more missing people.
Image: WABC video still via AP
Fire Department spokesman Danny Glover said Thursday morning the 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.
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.
Crews used generator-powered floodlights and thermal imaging cameras to identify heat spots — bodies or pockets of fire — at the site where two 5-story apartment buildings were reduced to bricks, splinters and twisted metal.
“This is a difficult job, a challenging job,” Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said. He said it was “a very terrible and traumatic scene.”
Police said two women believed to be in their 40s were among the dead. Hunter College identified one as Griselde Camacho, a security officer who had worked for the college since 2008.
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