MARCH 29, 2015
EAST VILLAGE, NY
Firefighters worked on Sunday afternoon to pull two bodies
from the scene of an explosion that demolished three buildings in the East
Village.
One of the bodies — found after three days of sifting
through the wreckage at Second Avenue and Seventh Street — had been identified
as Nicholas Figueroa, who had been on a date at Sushi Park, a restaurant at 121
Second Avenue. Fire Commissioner Daniel
A. Nigro said on Sunday evening that “everyone who was reported missing has
been found,” appearing to confirm that the second body was that of Moises
Ismael Locón Yac, 27, a busboy at Sushi Park, who was the only other person
reported missing.
“We continue to search,” Mr. Nigro said at a news conference
at the site, although “the likelihood of anyone else being here is very small.”
For the missing men’s family and friends, the news brought
to an end an agonizing vigil. Now the grim task of searching for remains will
give way to the complex one of pinpointing the cause of Thursday’s explosion. On
Sunday, rescue workers could be seen digging through the rubble backed by
cranes hoisting debris and a front loader pushing twisted metal and bits of
furniture into a pile on a street. Rescuers had been using used cadaver dogs to
search for victims.
At a nearby restaurant, Local 92, a sign read: "Our
hearts [are] with people who got hurt and lost their homes."
In all, three buildings collapsed out of four that caught
fire, and 11 buildings were evacuated, leaving residents of 144 apartments
homeless.
Investigators were looking into whether gas and plumbing
work being done privately in one building led to the explosion, and utility Con
Edison said that its utility crew found dangerous gas line connections that
created a "hazardous situation" during a visit in August prompted by
the smell of gas in the basement.
The utility said it shut off the building's gas for about 10
days, until it was determined to be safe.
The basement could hold the key to the cause of the
devastation, police said. On Friday, de Blasio said the blast was possibly tied
to someone inappropriately tapping into a gas line.
Nigro also said workers had not reached the basement of the
building and authorities had not reached any conclusions about the cause of the
blast.
An hour before the blast Con Edison inspectors had been at
the scene and determined that pre-existing work was not satisfactory, but the
problems were not safety-related, de Blasio said.
On Sunday, Joseph J.
Esposito, the commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management, said the
investigation was focusing on work that was being done within 121 Second
Avenue, rather than on problems with infrastructure, where blame for a building
collapse in East Harlem last year has fallen.