Steam pipe blast triggers panic in Manhattan

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NEW YORK, july 19 (AFP): A steam pipeline exploded in Manhattan on Wednesday in a shower of hot vapour, mud and rock, sparking panic among evening rush hour commuters and rekindling memories of the September 11 attacks among jittery New Yorkers.
One person died of a cardiac arrest while around 20 civilians were injured, some of them seriously, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters. Three or four firefighters were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
"There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure," Bloomberg said, dismissing any possibility of a terrorist link in the blast in one of New York's busiest business districts.
He said that a 60-centimeter (24-inch) steam pipe installed in 1924 and used in the heating and cooling systems of office buildings in the area had burst, possibly due to rain water from a morning deluge seeping into the pipe.