[Mrluvaluva]

From Sky News

At least one person has been killed after an underground steam explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal.

The blast caused steam and rubble to spew up from the tarmac, injuring around 30 people - at least four seriously.

The initial burst of steam rose higher than the nearby 77-storey Chrysler Building, one of Manhattan's tallest skyscrapers.

A city bus was abandoned in the middle of Lexington Avenue, covered with grit, and thousands of commuters evacuated the train terminal when workers shouted at them to get out of the building.

Crowds of people fled from the billowing smoke fearing a terrorist attack, after the 9/11 atrocity.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg blamed the blast on a faulty steam pipe installed in 1924.

"There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure," he said.

Subway trains were diverted away from Grand Central Station.

Utility company Consolidated Edison said there was an operational problem in the area and crews were responding.

Millions of pounds of steam are pumped beneath New York City streets every hour, heating and cooling thousands of buildings, including the Empire State Building.

The steam pipes are sometimes prone to rupture and in 1989, a gigantic steam explosion ripped through a street, killing three people and sending mud and debris several storeys into the air.

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[Stu]

Ahw thats ****. Hope everything goes OK. I hate bad things happening in that city because it has a special place in my heart .