East Village Explosion
East Village Explosion, Crews digging through piles of rubble at the site of the explosion and fire in the East Village will aim for the basement Monday, after two bodies were pulled from the rubble Sunday.
One was the body of 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa, and another body which has yet to be identified, is believed to be that of Moises Locon. The body is too mangled to be precisely identified, so it may take the medical examiner a week or so to do DNA testing.
The family of Figueroa wept as they walked from the medical examiner's office on Sunday evening, devastated by a sudden and shocking loss that took three days to unfold.
Workers continued to remove the mountains of debris from the site on 2nd Avenue, where on Thursday, an explosion followed by a voracious gas-fed fire devoured three buildings filled with homes and businesses.
22 people were injured, four critically.
In a press conference Sunday evening, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that the two bodies were found within 20 feet of each other in the rubble.
The cleanup is scheduled to take up to a week but could be done as early as Tuesday. Searchers have encountered sections of debris that are still smoldering.
FDNY Commissioner Nigro said that no conclusions were reached. This does not mean that there are no lessons learned from the flames and the explosion.
"If you're smelling gas, you call 911. That's what they didn't do here," said OEM Commissioner Joseph Esposito.
Meanwhile, city officials say criminal charges could be filed as a result of the explosion. Sources say investigators with the Manhattan District Attorney's office are now fully engaged.
In the aftermath of the devastating explosion, many questions still remain. Was the gas line that caused the blast tampered with? Who should be held responsible? And will criminal charges be filed?
Mayor Bill de Blasio made a special visit to Engine 33 Saturday to personally thank some of the first responders who showed amazing bravery under pressure, including Mike Shepherd, who climbed up a fire escape looking through the apartments.
"This is truly heroic, you have a dad who is a real hero," de Blasio told Shepherd's 10-year-old son, Michael Patrick.
Authorities also were exploring whether a third person was unaccounted for, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. But as of Saturday, no one else was believed to be missing related to the explosion.
Standing at a police barricade, Micha Gerland surveyed the remains of his apartment.
"I still don't believe it," said Gerland, 37, a restaurant manager who escaped with nothing but his wallet, his phone, his keys and the clothes he was wearing. "Who thinks that something like that happens?"
The FDNY arrived on the scene around 3:15 p.m. Thursday and found the first and second levels of 121 2nd Avenue blown out and smoke pluming throughout the five-story building. It is believed the explosion happened inside a restaurant on the first floor, called Sushi Park, and de Blasio said the preliminary investigation points to gas and plumbing work inside.
"There's a lot more we need to learn," de Blasio said Friday.About 10 minutes after the initial blast, flames began shooting through the roof and quickly spread to the neighboring building, 123 2nd Avenue, which houses the Pommes Frites. Both collapsed, and a third building, which houses East Noodle ramen shop at 119 2nd Ave., collapsed overnight Thursday.
Con Ed was at the building earlier in the afternoon, around 2 p.m. But there were no gas leaks detected at that time. In a statement, Con Ed confirmed it had been at the scene to evaluate work at 121 2nd Ave.
"Our records show the work of the building's plumber failed two inspections, including the inspection our personnel conducted yesterday afternoon," the statement said. "At no time was use of the new service line authorized by Con Edison. That service was locked to ensure that it would not be used. The ground-floor restaurant was being served by its current, smaller gas service line."FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that for the first 15 minutes before the building started to collapse, firefighters made extremely dangerous searches of the buildings to locate any victims before eventually pulling out.All buildings on the nearby block were evacuated and utilities on the block were shut off, but as of Saturday morning 40 apartments are ready to reoccupy. Second Avenue remains closed to traffic from Fifth to 14th Street. Crosstown streets remain closed on Sixth and Seventh streets and St. Marks Place.
"Some glass had blown all the way across the street, people injured," said a visibly shaken James Cole, who lives a few buildings down and fled in just a pair of shorts, sneakers and a sport coat after returning from the gym just prior to the explosion. "There were some Good Samaritans who were helping them, and there was a woman trapped on her fire escape, so they helped her get down. One guy, after helping her, ran back up, and it was already starting to smoke, and he was checking each apartment."
"I just heard a boom, and I came out and saw the fire escape had come off the building and the whole bottom of the building came out onto the sidewalk," a witness said. "Everyone was taking off, and it just, boom, and it was smoke, and then it was on fire, instantly on fire...People were panicking, like no one knew what was going on, and it was very shocking. You could feel the ground move."
The explosion was so forceful it blew the door off a cafe across the street and left piles of rubble on the sidewalk.
One was the body of 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa, and another body which has yet to be identified, is believed to be that of Moises Locon. The body is too mangled to be precisely identified, so it may take the medical examiner a week or so to do DNA testing.
The family of Figueroa wept as they walked from the medical examiner's office on Sunday evening, devastated by a sudden and shocking loss that took three days to unfold.
Workers continued to remove the mountains of debris from the site on 2nd Avenue, where on Thursday, an explosion followed by a voracious gas-fed fire devoured three buildings filled with homes and businesses.
22 people were injured, four critically.
In a press conference Sunday evening, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that the two bodies were found within 20 feet of each other in the rubble.
The cleanup is scheduled to take up to a week but could be done as early as Tuesday. Searchers have encountered sections of debris that are still smoldering.
FDNY Commissioner Nigro said that no conclusions were reached. This does not mean that there are no lessons learned from the flames and the explosion.
"If you're smelling gas, you call 911. That's what they didn't do here," said OEM Commissioner Joseph Esposito.
Meanwhile, city officials say criminal charges could be filed as a result of the explosion. Sources say investigators with the Manhattan District Attorney's office are now fully engaged.
In the aftermath of the devastating explosion, many questions still remain. Was the gas line that caused the blast tampered with? Who should be held responsible? And will criminal charges be filed?
Mayor Bill de Blasio made a special visit to Engine 33 Saturday to personally thank some of the first responders who showed amazing bravery under pressure, including Mike Shepherd, who climbed up a fire escape looking through the apartments.
"This is truly heroic, you have a dad who is a real hero," de Blasio told Shepherd's 10-year-old son, Michael Patrick.
Authorities also were exploring whether a third person was unaccounted for, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. But as of Saturday, no one else was believed to be missing related to the explosion.
Standing at a police barricade, Micha Gerland surveyed the remains of his apartment.
"I still don't believe it," said Gerland, 37, a restaurant manager who escaped with nothing but his wallet, his phone, his keys and the clothes he was wearing. "Who thinks that something like that happens?"
The FDNY arrived on the scene around 3:15 p.m. Thursday and found the first and second levels of 121 2nd Avenue blown out and smoke pluming throughout the five-story building. It is believed the explosion happened inside a restaurant on the first floor, called Sushi Park, and de Blasio said the preliminary investigation points to gas and plumbing work inside.
"There's a lot more we need to learn," de Blasio said Friday.About 10 minutes after the initial blast, flames began shooting through the roof and quickly spread to the neighboring building, 123 2nd Avenue, which houses the Pommes Frites. Both collapsed, and a third building, which houses East Noodle ramen shop at 119 2nd Ave., collapsed overnight Thursday.
Con Ed was at the building earlier in the afternoon, around 2 p.m. But there were no gas leaks detected at that time. In a statement, Con Ed confirmed it had been at the scene to evaluate work at 121 2nd Ave.
"Our records show the work of the building's plumber failed two inspections, including the inspection our personnel conducted yesterday afternoon," the statement said. "At no time was use of the new service line authorized by Con Edison. That service was locked to ensure that it would not be used. The ground-floor restaurant was being served by its current, smaller gas service line."FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that for the first 15 minutes before the building started to collapse, firefighters made extremely dangerous searches of the buildings to locate any victims before eventually pulling out.All buildings on the nearby block were evacuated and utilities on the block were shut off, but as of Saturday morning 40 apartments are ready to reoccupy. Second Avenue remains closed to traffic from Fifth to 14th Street. Crosstown streets remain closed on Sixth and Seventh streets and St. Marks Place.
"Some glass had blown all the way across the street, people injured," said a visibly shaken James Cole, who lives a few buildings down and fled in just a pair of shorts, sneakers and a sport coat after returning from the gym just prior to the explosion. "There were some Good Samaritans who were helping them, and there was a woman trapped on her fire escape, so they helped her get down. One guy, after helping her, ran back up, and it was already starting to smoke, and he was checking each apartment."
"I just heard a boom, and I came out and saw the fire escape had come off the building and the whole bottom of the building came out onto the sidewalk," a witness said. "Everyone was taking off, and it just, boom, and it was smoke, and then it was on fire, instantly on fire...People were panicking, like no one knew what was going on, and it was very shocking. You could feel the ground move."
The explosion was so forceful it blew the door off a cafe across the street and left piles of rubble on the sidewalk.
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East Village Explosion
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