Survivor: rescue workers combing the rubble of a New York church
destroyed in a gas explosion (above) have found a
decades-old Bible, somehow undamaged.
The Spanish Christian Church, in East Harlem, collapsed after a
gas leak in its building ignited on Wednesday of last week. Eight
people were killed, including five members of the church's
congregation.
It has been reported that the Bible was the original one used
when the independent Evangelical church was established, about 80
years ago.
The pastor of the church, the Revd Thomas Perez, was so overcome
when the Bible was pulled out of the rubble, he suffered heart
palpitations and was taken to hospital. The church's financial
secretary, Carmen Vargas-Rosa, said: "I thank God. It was
wonderful. I really didn't think that anything that was paper would
survive."
Investigators continue to search the scene to determine the
exact cause of the blast.
On Saturday, they announced that air samples taken shortly after
the explosion contained dangerous levels of methane gas.
Investigations are continuing.