NEW YORK - President-Elect Allen Rickham's tour of NYC was cut short last night due to to an explosion from a still active gas main in the ruins of midtown. With the people of New York on edge from the recent Washington-Irvine bombing, the scene soon escalated into a brief riot when fearful spectators who had snuck in through the secured "Red Zone" border charged the police barricades to escape the blast area.
Undoubtedly the blast was partly to blame for the abrupt termination of live news broadcasts from the area shortly after the explosion began, cutting short the President's announcement for funding of specialized Evolved Education schools. President Rickham has canceled the last leg of his tour and his press secretary was unreachable for comment at the time of this printing. Currently several spectators and media officials are being detained by Homeland Security for questioning regarding the explosion to be certain there was no connection between the gas main rupture and the recent raid on PARIAH facilities just last week.