
Spotted on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street via @edenbrower
“As I got closer to the corner I could feel the concussion bounced off the building across the street and kind of hit me in the chest and I said, ‘Oh man, it’s a big one.’ ”
“Then I looked and I turned and I see the whole building is out in the street and people laying there, and I said, ‘Oh man, this is bad.’ And I looked up and I thought, ‘I got to check above.’”
He saw a girl out on the fire escape, and she could not get the ladder unhooked.
“Me and a couple of other guys were trying to get the drop ladder down for her. It was too heavy. She was panicking. I told her, I said, ‘Honey, you got to calm down and listen to me.’ I said, ‘Bend with your legs and lift it up so it unhooks and then just let it go.’ And she was like, ‘I can’t.’”
He told her she could do it.
“I just kind of instilled confidence in her.”
The investigation into the explosion and fire on Thursday that reduced three buildings in the East Village to rubble and injured more than 19 people is focusing on plumbing and gas work that appears to have been done without a permit at a restaurant on the ground floor of one of the buildings, according to city officials and public records.
Investigators believe a worker may have turned off gas to the original, improperly used pipe, before Con Edison arrived in order to prevent them from discovering that it was being improperly tapped, sources said.
Con Edison workers inspected the new, larger pipe, but once again it did not pass muster, and Con Ed refused to turn on gas to it, and they departed.
Investigators suspect that once they left, a worker went back to the original pipe, and somehow damage the pipe when he turn the gas back on and created the leak, which exploded a short time later.
#FDNY units will remain on-scene in #EastVillage as operations continue today. pic.twitter.com/mhzF5loGss
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 27, 2015
Retweet to get the word out: Call 911 or @conedison immediately if you ever smell gas.
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 27, 2015
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and other agencies are investigating whether contractor Dilber Kukic, 39, played a role in the blast that started at 121 Second Ave., sources said.
Kukic — whose construction firm performed work at the address in the past — was already under the scrutiny of Manhattan prosecutors in an unrelated case. He was arrested last month for an alleged role in a widespread bribery scandal involving city inspectors.
.@FDNY fire operations continue in #EastVillage. Reception Center is open for affected residents at 331 E. 10th St. pic.twitter.com/xzmFuQiBpx
— Joe Esposito (@JoeEspoNYC) March 27, 2015
Two people are listed as being unaccounted for as investigators keep looking into Thursday's explosion in the East Village that injured more than two dozen people and brought down three buildings.
The NYPD says official missing persons reports have not yet been filed, but are under further verification and investigation.
The FDNY says the number of those injured now stands at 25. They include 20 civilians, four firefighters and one EMS worker.
Four of the injured are in critical condition.
Red Cross station to help people affected by the explosion is now at Tompkins Square Library at 331 e10th, btw Aves A & B.
— East Village (@EastVillageNY) March 27, 2015
We'll remain closed today. We're day to day and will update as we have news to share. Thanks for love + support.
— Jimmy's No. 43 (@JimmysNo43) March 27, 2015
#FDNY operations in the #EastVillage continue into the night. pic.twitter.com/dKUbcma91b
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 27, 2015