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Upper East Side Blast Has Foul Smell

NEW YORK CITY-Despondent doctor may have tried using gas to take his life while destroying building.

By Tom Sosnowski | Updated on July 10, 2006

NEW YORK CITY-Speculation continued into the evening yesterday as to the events leading up to an explosion, fire, and building collapse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Glass, wood and concrete filled the streets and sidewalks on East 62nd Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue during the height of the morning rush hour.

Gas has been pegged as the cause of the explosion, but authorities as of late yesterday were investigating the building’s owner, Dr. Nicholas Bartha. The 66-year-old physician was the only occupant in the building at the time of the explosion and is a suspect behind the blast.

In published reports yesterday, it was revealed that Bartha had recently sent a peculiar email to his wife stating that he was contemplating suicide. According to an Associated Press report, a police official said that part of the note stated, “You will be transformed from a gold digger to an ash and rubble digger.”

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