2 feared dead in NYC explosion as search continues

2 feared dead in NYC explosion as search continues

Family members held out hope, but authorities don't believe anyone is likely to have survived the blast that hasn't already been rescued.

Emergency workers are continuing to search for two people still missing after a gigantic explosion destroyed three apartment buildings in Manhattan, but hope is fading fast that they will be found alive.

Dogs swept the area to see if anyone was trapped in the rubble and police sent out posters to see if anyone had seen the two men who were believed to have been inside the sushi restaurant of one of the buildings that collapsed, according to an Associated Press report.

The restaurant was located on the ground floor of one of the buildings in East Village, and the name of the men missing are Moises Lucon, 26, and Nicholas Figueroa, 23. Lucon worked at the restaurant, and Figueroa is a bowling alley worker who was on a date.

Family members had been going up and down the streets asking if anyone had seen them, according to the report. Despite the lack of success, family members told the press that they held out hope for them.

Joseph Esposito, who is head of the Office of Emergency Management, was more grim in his assessment of the situation, saying that he “would doubt … very seriously” that anyone had survived the explosion.

Authorities believe someone had improperly tapped a gas line while plumbing and gas work was going on, although investigators are trying to get a complete picture of what happened. Just an hour before the explosion, utility company Consolidated Edison had visited the building and determined that the upgrade to the gas service didn’t pass inspection, and locked the line to keep it from being used.

Minutes later, the owner of the sushi restaurant smelled gas and called the landlord, who called the general contractor, but no one called Con Ed or 911. The owner’s son and the contractor went to the basement and opened the door, and the blast burned their faces.

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