A building collapse in New York City's Chinatown may have been due to roach bombs, a source said today.

The building collapse left a dozen people injured overall; two people were injured critically in the melee, which resulted in a fire after the building collapse and explosion.

Investigators found that the Chinatown building likely collapsed due to roach bombs being "improperly used"

The building that collapsed had a stunning array of problems, including roach bombs, structural damage, and illegally subdivided apartments.

Investigators found boxes in the first-floor hair salon of Raid fumigating foggers and Decon bug bombs.

Apparently the Chinatown building was...well, not anywhere anyone wanted to get their hair done. Or, worse, live.

A gas leak may have also been involved.

An explosion occurred at 12:45 PM at 17 Pike Street in the back of the Piao Liang Ren Scheng Beauty Salon, resulting in the building collapse. A fire and a ceiling collapse subsequently occurred.

Firefighters dragged an unconscious man from the building. Four firefighters were injured; the blaze took an hour to curb.

Xia Jing Mei, 40, said she barely made it out alive. She lived on the top floor of the five-story building and escaped with her aunt.

"[We] ran right outside," said Mei. "I got out and there were these huge flames behind me."

Another witness described a loud boom.

"It sounded like a truck smashed into a building," said Jahleel Mazyck, 13, who was hawking water down the street.

The incident happened rapidly; fire crews arrived within three minutes but residents were already on their fire escapes begging for rescue from the fire.

FDNY Assistant Chief Robert Boyce said that eight were rescued and taken to New York Presbyterian/Weill Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital after the building collapse.

A tipster said it was likely due to roach bombs and a possible gas leak.

In 2009, residents were ordered out of the building after the first floor was found to be in danger of collapse, city Department of Building records show. The first floor was sinking and inspectors found rotting floor joists and no fireproofing material in the basement.

"We did have existing codes violations for this building. We're looking into them," Boyce said.

Authorities continue to look into the 'improperly used' bug bombs and a possible gas leak that caused the building to partially collapse in New York City's Chinatown, injuring a dozen people.