Shocking bodycam video shows Queens house explosion send cops flying, 1 person dead in rubble
SOUTH OZONE PARK, Queens (WABC) -- Shocking bodycam video has been released in the Queens house explosion that killed a suspect and sent police officers flying through the air.
The house on 130th Street exploded in a roar of flames just before 3 a.m. Thursday and collapsed. It's set to be fully demolished on Friday.
A body, believed to be the suspect, 50-year-old Anroop Parasram, was found in the rubble of the 5-alarm gas-fed fire in South Ozone Park.
It all apparently started early Thursday during a domestic dispute.
Police officers had responded to a 911 call about a domestic dispute at the home involving a suspect armed with a knife. As they arrived, they smelled gas coming from the structure and were met by a woman, who gave them the keys to her basement apartment.
The officers were attempting to enter the apartment to look for her estranged husband when the house exploded.
Law enforcement officials believe the suspect and estranged husband, Parasram, was killed in the basement of the collapsed building after intentionally setting himself on fire.
Seven police officers and a police sergeant were injured in the blast. The NYPD officers sustained minor burns. The most severe injury was a laceration to the head that required stitches.
Police body-worn cameras showed the explosion, that was so severe, it blew several officers off their feet and into a fence.
"They stood up, they got up, they ran into the burning home, because that's what the job required, and that's what they do every day. They run through danger. They do not run away from it. Cops confront these situations every day, not knowing if luck will be on their side. Thankfully, today, luck was on their side," said Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh, NYPD Commanding Officer Patrol Borough Queens South.
He added, "We got very lucky today; this could have turned out very different."
All 11 residents of the building, who live in the basement and first and second floors, have been accounted for. Seven lived on the first and second floor another four lived in the basement. They are believed to have evacuated before the explosion.
Department of Building officials say first responders reported four civilian injuries.
As for the suspect, police say Parasram broke into the home where his wife, daughter and two grandchildren live by pushing in an air conditioning unit to the basement apartment.
Police say video shows him carrying two garbage bags filled with canisters containing an unknown substance.
Parasram's wife said he was intoxicated and armed with a knife. Once he was inside, his wife, daughter and two grandchildren managed to run away.
His family gave officers the keys to the home to arrest him, then the explosion happened, and a giant hole remained where the home once stood.
His body was recovered Thursday afternoon.
His distraught relatives tried to make sense of it all.
There were three expired orders of protection against Parasram. The most recent one expired in 2024. All three of them were filed with one relative who was in the apartment at the time of the explosion and fire.
Officers pulled the next door neighbors to safety.
The neighbor Leikram Singh said it was the estranged husband's wife who was yelling in the street that woke him up and alerted him.
FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said nearly 300 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene.
The Department of Buildings issued full vacate order for both adjacent homes.
The American Red Cross is assisting 15 adults and 5 children who have been displaced.
The exact cause of how the dispute triggered such a massive blaze remains under investigation.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani weighed in on the fire and explosion on social media, and expressed his thanks to first responders.
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