The building reportedly housed a doctor's office and a beauty salon http://www.wnbc.com/news/9490570/detail.html
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Building Explodes and Collapses in NYC
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A three-story building on Manhattan's East Side went up in flames and collapsed Monday after what witnesses said was a thunderous explosion that rocked the neighborhood.
The cause was not immediately known, and at least two people were under evaluation at a hospital.
Television reports said people were trapped inside, but fire officials did not immediately confirm that.
Heavy black smoke rose high above the building, wedged between taller structures on 62nd Street between Park and Madison Avenues just a few blocks from Central Park. Damage, including shattered windows, could be seen at one of the adjoining buildings.
The building reportedly housed a doctor's office and a beauty salon.
Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard ``a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me.''
``Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next,'' he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.
TV host Larry King, who had been in his hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.
``I've never heard a sound like that,'' King said.
Thad Milonas, 57, was operating a coffee cart across from the building when he said the ground shook and the building came down.
``In a few seconds, finished,'' Milonas said. ``The whole building collapsed.''
He said he saw at least four injured people, including two bleeding women he helped from the scene.
Streets around the area were closed off to traffic as ambulances and rescue units responded just before 9 a.m. Dozens of onlookers stood behind police tape watching the smoke as it engulfed the sky.
Businesses on 62 street and Madison
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