An Army B-25 bomber crashed into the side of the Empire State building killing at least 13 in one of New York City’s most bizarre disasters.

Police said the death toll might exceed 15. Rescue workers continued to search the burned and twisted wreckage of the 79th floor through which the B-25 Billy Mitchell crashed at about 9:48 a.m.

Smoke and flames enveloped the upper stories of the 1,248-foot tower — world’s biggest building — and three explosions jarred midtown Manhattan strewing broken glass and debris five blocks around.

Three of the dead were aboard the bomber which had left Bedford, Massachusetts. The crew had talked with LaGuardia Field here by radio and was on its way to land in Newark, N.J.

Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Of the hundreds who fled to safety, some in panic, at least 20 were injured by burning gasoline or falling debris.

Anxious friends and relatives of persons believed to have been in the building streamed into the nearby West 30th Street police precinct for information while attempts were made to identify the bodies in the Bellevue Hospital morgue.

Flaming gasoline spilled down spread offices and corridors and down elevator shafts.

Retired General Hugh Drum, president of the Empire State Building corporation said that the crash caused $500,000 to $30 million to the building and that there was no structural damage to the building, but it was mostly fire damage.

Eyewitness accounts built a picture of horror.

The screams of trapped people, many people badly burned, spread panic in the upper stories.

Two electricians, Eugene McHugh and William Gray said they assisted hundreds of persons — many of them burned, down the stairs from the upper floors.

Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia said he saw four bodies on the 79th floor.