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2 dead, 15 hurt in gas leak explosion in Harlem - USA TODAY Posted: 12 Mar 2014 09:50 AM PDT A New York City apartment building has exploded in flames and billowing black smoke, leading to the collapse of at least one building and multiple injuries. (March 12) Video provided by AP Newslook NEW YORK -- At least two women were killed and up to 18 people injured Wednesday when a gas leak triggered a "major explosion" that leveled two five-story buildings in East Harlem, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. The mayor, speaking to reporters at the scene, said several people are still missing, but cautioned that many of them may simply be safe at a different location. There was a Spanish Christian Church and a piano repair store at the East Harlem address on Park Avenue between 114th street and 116th Street. The mayor said the explosion occurred at 9:31 a.m. ET, only minutes before a Con Ed utilities team arrived on the scene to check on reports of a natural gas leak. "This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," de Blasio said. "We have lost two people already." He said there will be a thorough search of the rubble after the fire is contained. Nearly 200 firefighters were still battling the blaze around noon. The fire units arrived within two minutes of the explosion, the mayor said. "For weeks we've been smelling gas," Ashley Rivera, 21, told the Daily News as she fought back tears. "We saw people flying out of the window. ... Those are my neighbors." Eoin Hayes, 26, said the explosion shook his apartment building almost 10 blocks away. "I was in my bedroom and the explosion went off, it kind of shook the whole building," Hayes told the Associated Press. "You could feel the vibrations going through the building. I ran to the window and saw the fire and the smoke going up and the sirens start." Metro-North service was suspended, officials said, because of debris from the buildings that landed on the elevated train tracks across the street. Contributing: Associated Press |
"Little green men" or "Russian invaders"? - BBC News Posted: 12 Mar 2014 09:44 AM PDT
11 March 2014
Last updated at 15:39
![]() The internet has no shortage of photographs and videos showing armed men in Crimea who look like members of the Russian military. Their guns are the same as those used by the Russian army, their lorries have Russian number plates and they speak in Russian accents. Yet according to President Vladimir Putin, they are in fact members of "self-defence groups" organised by the locals who bought all their uniforms and hardware in a shop. This poses a challenge to the media covering the crisis: what do you call people who are officially not there? The state-run and pro-government media in Russia have chosen to take little notice of them, and the heavily armed men are rarely if ever shown on TV. Instead, they show groups of lightly-armed "volunteers" described as local "self-defence groups". "Polite men"Russian journalists less aligned with the Kremlin often use the phrase "polite men". According to centrist daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta, "'polite, armed men' are in charge of Crimea now". Describing them as Russian troops in the Russian media "is not the done thing, and even dangerous, too," prominent photojournalist Denis Sinyakov comments on independent website Colta. ![]() According to popular blogger Ilya Varlamov, the term "polite men" was invented by spin doctors who arrived in Crimea from Moscow. "They are creating an image of a Russian liberator-soldier wearing a nice new uniform and armed with beautiful weapons, who has come to defend peaceful towns and villages," Mr Varlamov says. "Little green men"Another phrase used by reporters in Russia and Ukraine alike is "little green men", which refers both to the colour of their uniforms and their unconfirmed origin. ![]() Their involvement in Crimea is a "tragicomic masquerade", says Russian liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which argues that "the little green men will turn into Russian troops very soon". According to Kiev-based private TV channel One Plus One, the term "little green men" was coined by local residents in Crimea. It is now frequently mentioned on Ukrainian TV, by a defence ministry spokesman in his posts on Facebook and even by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in his recent addresses to parliament. Some Ukrainian journalists have criticised the use of this term. "Colleagues, stop using the affectionate term 'little green men' to describe the Russian troops," tweeted journalist Svyatoslav Tseholko. "Otherwise you get the impression that we trust Putin more than we do common sense." ![]() Most journalists in Ukraine, however, have little doubt about the true identity of the pro-Russian armed men. ![]() "Russian invaders" and "occupiers from Russia" is how popular Kiev-based news website Ukrayinska Pravda describes the military men in Crimea. Meanwhile, analytical daily Den calls them "Russian extremists", echoing language used by the Russian media to describe Islamist militants. ![]() Even outlets previously supportive of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych - such as Segodnya, a tabloid owned by Ukraine's richest man Rinat Akhmetov, - are now calling the military presence in Crimea "an armed intervention". Ukraine's most popular TV channel Inter is treading a more cautious line. Previously critical of the protests that led to President Yanukovych's downfall, Inter speaks of "unknown armed men" in Crimea. But it also said that they were bringing Russian military hardware to the peninsula. ![]() BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. |
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