At least three people were killed, 64 injured and nine missing, officials said, after a gas leak set off an explosion Wednesday morning that destroyed two brick buildings in upper Manhattan.

Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that a gas leak caused the explosion. "This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," he said.

"I thought it was the end of the world for me, I thought I was going to die," said Elhadji Sylla, 54, who runs an African market at 86 116th Street, around the corner from where a gas explosion occurred in New York City.

Sylla said he was in the back of his store cleaning a bathroom when he heard a "terrifying boom." Although debris from the blast had shattered his window, he said he remained inside. "Then the police came and told everybody to leave," he said.

Brandon Whitaker, 22, who lives at 115th Street Street and Park Avenue, said he was sleeping when vibrations from the explosion a block away jolted him awake. "What woke me up was the shake," he said. "It felt like an earthquake. My first thought was the Metro North fell off the tracks. That's how loud the boom was."

Hundreds of firefighters scoured mounds of debris for survivors and trapped bodies.

Crews also scrambled to clean up debris which littered nearby train tracks and shut down Metro-North Railroad service, ahead of the evening commute.

Con Edison officials said the blast occurred 15 minutes after a resident in an adjacent building called the utility to complain of a gas odor.

One of the two buildings at the northwest corner of 116th Street and Park Avenue held a piano store on the first floor, and the other a storefront church.

michaelbarris@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 03/13/2014 page2)