From: Subject: =?Windows-1252?Q?Explosion_rocks_Manhattan=2C_revives_9/11_memories=A0|?= =?Windows-1252?Q?=A0Reuters.ca?= Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:30:05 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7CAE2.D91A7D40" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7CAE2.D91A7D40 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-07-19T004304Z_01_N18418871_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-NEWYORK-EXPLOSION-COL.XML =EF=BB=BF Explosion rocks Manhattan, revives = 9/11 memories=C2=A0|=C2=A0Reuters.ca
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Explosion rocks Manhattan, = revives 9/11=20 memories
Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:43 PM EDT3D136=20
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By Claudia = Parsons and John=20 Doran

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An underground steam pipe exploded = in=20 midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, shaking buildings, creating = a=20 towering geyser of debris and sending pedestrians fleeing in = scenes=20 reminiscent of the September 11 attacks.

Officials in New York and Washington promptly ruled out a = terrorist attack. One person died and about 20 people were = injured,=20 some seriously, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"The big fear that we have is there may or may not have = been=20 asbestos released," Bloomberg said.

Boiling, brownish water and steam gushed geyser-like at = least 120=20 feet high out of a crater about 20 feet

wide on Lexington Avenue at 41st Street, one of the = busiest areas=20 of New York City near the Grand Central transportation hub.

The scene looked as if buildings were collapsing in a = billow of=20 debris as they did on September 11, 2001 when the World = Trade Center=20 in lower Manhattan was destroyed.

"We ran down 43 floors thinking we were going to die," = said Megan=20 Fletcher, 35, who works for an Australian company in the = Chrysler=20 Building. "It looked like when the buildings collapsed on = 9/11."

Police at the scene also raised the concern of asbestos = being=20 strewn into the air. Rescue workers and those covered in the = debris=20 were being decontaminated at the scene by hazardous = materials=20 specialists.

"It was a steam pipe rupture right before 6 p.m. We're in = the=20 process of isolating the pipeline, assessing for possible = collateral=20 damage," said Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for power utility=20 Consolidated Edison.

It was the latest public embarrassment for ConEd, which = is under=20 scrutiny for power blackouts.

The pipe of 24 inches in diameter was installed in 1924,=20 Bloomberg told a news conference, and may have burst because = cold=20 water somehow entered it.    Continued=20 ...

=C2=A9 Reuters 2007. = All Rights=20 Reserved.


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