High-pressure steam leak in Manhattan; no injuries reported

A steam pipe exploded beneath Fifth Avenue in Manhattan early Thursday, hurling chunks of asphalt, sending a geyser of billowing white steam stories into the air and forcing pedestrians to take cover.

No injuries were reported, but Con Ed, which owns the subterranean pipe, warned people who may have gotten material on them to bag their clothes and shower immediately as a precaution against possible asbestos.

Buildings along several blocks of Fifth Avenue have been evacuated as a precaution.

The high-pressure steam leak was reported at around 6:40 a.m. The steam was still billowing about 10 stories high two hours later.

WABC reported there also were manhole explosions from West 19th Street to West 21st streets. Some subway trains were bypassing the area.

"I looked around and saw this big huge plume of steam shoot into the air," said Daniel Lizio-Katzen, 42, who was riding his bike home to the West Village. "It was a pretty violent explosion," Lizio-Katzen told the Daily News.

'"The steam was shooting up into the air about 70 feet. It was pushing up at such a high pressure that it was spewing all of this dirt and debris. The cars around were coated in mud ... It left a huge crater in the middle of the street." Brendan Walsh, 22, a senior at New York University, had just gotten off a train and was headed to class when he saw the plume.