It's Harlem's own 9/11.
That's how Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) would describe the Wednesday building explosion in his home district that stunned the public, Politico reports.
"I've never had anything this horrific that's happened in my community since I've been in Washington," Rangel told an NBC affiliate in New York, as news continued to break on the situation. "I hope that soon, and very soon, it will be contained and we can go back to some degree of normal normalcy.
"This is a very serious thing. It's our community's 9/11, even though we don't know how it started," the veteran politician said, adding that other New York members of Congress were just as concerned abut the incident. "The whole New York delegation has been concerned, and members that are not in committee are glued to the television, and hearing reports from you makes us at least a little closer to home."
He added that the "mystery" behind the sudden devastation worried him.
"The mystery of all of this thing is just worrisome," Rangel said. "It is a frightening thought. And especially, you don’t know what caused it, how to contain it, how far, how dangerous it is now, even though it’s being contained. I understand the buildings have collapsed. And there is nothing more of a nightmare [than] to think there may be people in those buildings as it collapsed."
Reports have up to six people killed in the chaos and more than 50 people injured.
Read more at Politico.