One person has died in hospital after an underground steam pipe explosion tore through a New York street.
Hundreds fled when a towering geyser of steam and rubble burst into the air near Grand Central Terminal yesterday evening.
Several people were injured, at least four of them seriously.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said the explosion was not terrorism.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference at the scene of the blast: “There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure.”
The person who died suffered an apparent heart attack, Bloomberg said.
Sixteen people were taken to Bellevue Hospital, including the person who died, said spokesman Stephen Bohlen.
He said two seriously injured patients were being treated in the hospital’s trauma unit.
The remainder suffered minor injuries, he said.
Two people who were seriously injured were being treated at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Centre. They were in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Emily Berlanstein.