12 Hurt in New York Building Collapse, Blaze

Twelve people were hurt Thursday when a New York building collapsed and a large blaze tore through a neighboring property, which was also at risk of falling down, the fire department said.

Four of the injured were in a critical condition as a result of the emergency just after 3:00 pm in Manhattan's popular East Village neighborhood on Second Avenue, a spokeswoman told AFP.

The cause of the incident and how many people may have been inside the adjoining buildings at the time were not immediately clear.

Thick smoke filled the street and emergency workers shut down six blocks on Second Avenue, said an AFP reporter at the scene.

A gaping hole, where once a commercial and residential building stood, was engulfed in thick smoke and reduced to debris, showed a photograph posted on Twitter by the New York Fire Department.

More than 250 fire fighters were still battling to control the blaze at neighboring 121 Second Avenue, more than two hours into the incident, amid fears that block may too collapse.

The fire department described both buildings as having businesses on the first floor and residential apartments on the upper floors.

The fire department described the collapse as "complete."

Four people in a critical condition were rushed to hospitals.

"I was really scared," said 19-year-old Isaiah Barr, who lives several blocks away and was listening to music at home when he felt a boom.

"I went out, people were starting to look to Second Avenue," he told AFP. "I saw the flames and the fire fighters arriving. The response was very fast."

The smell of burning was detected as far away as Midtown Manhattan, around 40 blocks farther north, and heavy smoke billowed high into the air.

Philip McElroy, a 23-year-old student, said he was visiting a friend two blocks away at the time.

"It was crazy loud. The windows were shaking. I ran over. There was a lot of smoke and part of the building was blown out. I saw a man coming from the top floor, he seemed ok."

Hundreds of fire fighters were coming and going, sirens blaring, and police officers were also on the spot.

Although the cause of the incident was not immediately clear, it is likely to revive safety fears, particularly in some of Manhattan's older multi-storey buildings.

Just over a year ago, eight people were killed when a gas explosion leveled two apartment buildings in Harlem in northern Manhattan on March 12, 2014.

The East Village is one of the most popular areas of New York, home to a large number of students and wealthy professionals, and stuffed with boutiques, restaurants, nightclubs and cafes.