NYC building collapses after explosion, fire in East Village

NEW YORK CITY (KABC) -- A building in New York City's East Village neighborhood collapsed after an explosion and a seven-alarm fire erupted Thursday.

Officials say 12 people were injured, with four in critical condition.

It is believed the explosion happened inside a Korean restaurant on the first floor, called Sushi Park, on Second Avenue at East 7th Street around 3:15 p.m. ET. The FDNY responded to the scene and found the lower level collapsed.

"I was going to have sushi at that place, and then I decided to get ramen, so it's only like three doors down," a witness named Alexandria said. "And then all the sudden, the whole building shook, and it looked like the glass was like rubber as it shook, and it pushed me forward. And I ran out, and I saw people climbing out of the building. I saw one woman bleeding profusely, and she was out of it and didn't know where she was going."

Firefighters were pouring water on the flames, but as flames began shooting through the roof and spreading, they had to pull back due to the intensity of the fire. The front of the structure came down shortly afterwards, fire officials cautioned that the neighboring building was likely to fall as well. The top floor was so brittle that water from the fire hose was chipping off chunks of brick and concrete, and it is believed firefighters were using their high-pressure streams to chip away at the remnants of the building.

"Some glass had blown all the way across the street, people injured," said a visibly shaken James Cole, who lives a few buildings down and fled in just a pair of shorts, sneakers and a sport coat after returning from the gym just prior to the explosion. "There were some Good Samaritans who were helping them, and there was a woman trapped on her fire escape, so they helped her get down. One guy, after helping her, ran back up, and it was already starting to smoke, and he was checking each apartment."

Orange flames and black smoke billowed from the facade and roof of the five-story building in Manhattan, near several NYU buildings and the Washington Square Park area. The blast damaged four buildings as flames shot in the air.

Investigators were looking into whether there had been a gas leak. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the preliminary investigation points to gas and plumbing work in the sushi restaurant that sparked the explosion and fire.

Con Ed was at the building earlier in the afternoon, around 2 p.m., for something unrelated. De Blasio said the building did not pass preliminary inspection and work could not proceed, but there were no gas leaks detected at that time.

The FDNY did a roll call of all of its members when the building collapsed, and all were accounted for and OK.

The area was evacuated, but it was unknown if everyone was able to make it out of the building before the flames erupted. Blasio said there were no reports of unaccounted for individuals, but cadaver dogs were on hand to search the building and rubble once the fire was out and the site deemed stable.

Health officials advised people to avoid smoke exposure from the fire by closing their windows while indoors and reducing outdoor activity where smoke is present.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.