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Wednesday July 12 1:22 AM ET

Two Houses Fall in New York Following Explosion

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two residential buildings collapsed following an explosion in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Tuesday night, according to officials and witnesses.

More than 200 rescue workers were searching into Wednesday morning for survivors under the rubble.

City officials said they did not know the cause of the collapse. However, police officers on the scene said they smelled gas at the location. Officials said witnesses heard a large explosion moments before the buildings went down.

Three people were believed missing, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told reporters at a media briefing. He added that officials think six people lived in the two buildings.

The two connected, four-story residential buildings were on State Street in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn. Police, firefighters, emergency and buildings department personnel were digging by hand through the debris.

Police said they were also using trained dogs to seek bodies or survivors.

Three minor injuries were reported involving a civilian and two firefighters.

The firefighters were injured and sent to the hospital, according to fire department spokesman David Billig. One firefighter was treated and released and Billig said he expected the second firefighter to be released.

``We still have a big search underway, and it will be underway throughout the night,'' Billig told Reuters.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), July 12, 2000