A major gas explosion is to blame for injuries to seven people at a college outside of New York City yesterday morning. At least one student was thrown out of a second-story window from the force of the blast. That student is reportedly being treated for head and neck injuries; no life-threatening injuries were reported.
Injuries ranged from flash burns to bruising and cuts from flying wood and glass.
A small fire broke out in one building but first responders were able to control and extinguish the flame before it spread to nearby buildings. Windows and doors were blown out in the natural gas explosion, peppering the cars and property outside with glass and other debris.
Nyack College is a small Christian college outside of New York City. Initial reports claimed that students and staff were stuck inside the 1920s Tudor-style campus building affected by the natural gas explosion, but rescue crews assert that everyone has been accounted for.
Nyack, New York is all too familiar with the dangers of natural gas, gas leaks and resulting pipeline explosions. Just last summer a gas line in downtown Nyack exploded while a welder was working to replace aging pipeline in the area. Sparks from the welding ignited a natural gas leak.
A spokesman for the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department noted that there gas odors in the area of the Nyack College explosion and that levels of natural gas within the area were too high. Homeowners near Nyack were asked to leave their homes for a short while as a precaution after the pipeline explosion.
Source: CNN, “Gas explosion injures 7 at New York’s Nyack College, official says,” June 4, 2013