7 hurt in explosion at New York’s Nyack College

At least seven people were injured after an apparent gas explosion rocked the campus of a Christian college near New York City on Tuesday, officials said.

Their injuries were not life-threatening, said Lauren Malone, spokeswoman for Nyack Hospital in Nyack, N.Y., where the seven victims were taken.

The blast struck a building on Nyack College’s Rockland County campus. Local media video showed windows blown out and debris scattered onto cars parked next to the building.

“Everyone is doing ok, thank you for your concerns and please continue to pray,” the college said in a message on its Twitter account. “We will have updates for you throughout this time.”

Mike Donovan, an official with Orange & Rockland Utilities, said the incident was an apparent gas explosion, WABC-TV reported.

Lincy Abraham, a nursing student in a building about 100 yards away from the blast, told the Journal News newspaper that she smelled gas before the explosion.

“Being that the college was in recess, there were not that many students in there,” South Nyack Mayor Bonnie Christian told the Journal News.

Nyack College, which had an enrollment of 1,051 undergraduates and 275 seminary students at its Rockland County campus in the fall of 2012, says on its website that its mission is to prepare students to “take the whole Gospel to the whole world.”

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