DIGGING: Firefighters search for victims in a section of the building that collapsed in yesterday’s blast. (Paul Martinka)
CHAOS: Rescue workers rush a victim away from the blast and collapse scene in Chinatown yesterday. Three victims were in critical condition and four were serious. (Paul Martinka)
Two dozen pesticide bombs exploded in a rickety Chinatown building yesterday — and the fiery blast caused a partial collapse that injured at least nine people, authorities said.
The canisters, known as foggers, were found in the Piao Liang Ren Sheng Beauty Salon after the 12:50p.m. explosion at 17 Pike St., which officials said had multiple code violations.
“Improper use” of the cans, which release gas to kill bugs, “blew out a load-bearing wall” in the five-story prewar structure, a source said.
The blast caused the back of the first floor to collapse.
Resident Wang Xiao told investigators she put out 24 of the bug bombs on Wednesday but they didn’t do the trick.
So she put out another 24 yesterday and left them unattended. Aerosol from the canisters is believed to have ignited on a pilot light, the source said.
Three victims were in critical condition, and four were in serious condition. Two firefighters were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Assistant Fire Chief Robert Boyce told The Post the building had fire-code violations.
“We did have existing code violations for this building, and we are looking into that,” Boyce said, declining to elaborate.
The building owners were last cited in 2009 for working without permits and failure to maintain the building, records show.
Inspectors ordered the building evacuated in January 2009 after it was found unsafe and shaking. Residents were allowed to return in March.
That same year, floors were found rotted and in danger of collapse. There was also a lack of fire-stopping material. The complaints were resolved, records show.
Thomas Shiu, who owns the building with his wife and lives in New Jersey, insisted: “Everything is fine now. Everything is under control. We handled everything.”
But tenants said they have long complained of bad wiring and water leaks, as well as general disrepair.
Con Ed turned off gas and power to the building as a precaution but did not know whether there had been a gas leak.
The building houses the beauty salon and a bus company that runs cheap trips to Virginia and the Carolinas — and 18 apartments.
The FDNY’s Boyce said the fire ripped through the first floor and spread to the second and third.
The blast caused part of the first-floor mezzanine to collapse, he said.
The Red Cross said 34 adults and seven kids from the building’s apartments registered for emergency help.
“I was sitting down watching TV when I heard what sounded like a bomb. I thought the roof was falling down, and I yelled, ‘Oh, s–t,’ ” recalled John Sua, 24, manager of Brothers Bus Line.
“The Fire Department came right away, and I saw them carry a boy around 12 years old out. He was bleeding from the back, but he was moving.”
Tsz Kan Cheung, 65, who was eating lunch in Unit 4D, said, “It felt like an earthquake shaking the building. The wall was cracking behind me.
“I saw one woman run out after me. The skin in her leg was gone. She just sat on the street outside, and when I asked her how she was, she couldn’t talk.”
Additional reporting by Gillian Kleiman and Jeane MacIntosh