Actress Drea De Matteo loses home in Manhattan explosion

Drea De Matteo's home was destroyed on Thursday (26Mar15) when an explosion ripped through two apartment buildings in New York City.

The Sopranos actress posted a picture on Instagram.com showing firefighters struggling to extinguish the blaze, which engulfed two buildings in Manhattan's East Village.

She added in the caption, "NYC's finest trying to put out the flames to mine n (and) many others apartments (sic). Speechless..."

The second picture shows one building gutted by the fire, while the other, which was once De Matteo's home, is collapsed to a pile of rubble.

She writes, "A hole where my NYC home of the last 22 years once stood... RIP (rest in peace) 123 2nd Avenue."

The explosion is believed to have been gas-related. The subsequent blaze tore through several buildings and more than 250 firefighters were called to the scene. Nineteen people were reported to have been injured.