No fatalities were reported, but police officials said two people who had been at a sushi restaurant in one of the buildings were missing. Mixed-use, commercial and residential buildings at 121, 123 and 119 Second Avenue were destroyed, and another adjoining building was badly damaged.
With the fire still smoldering and the building debris dangerous, investigators have not yet been able to get into the basements of the devastated buildings, said de Blasio. However, he said preliminary investigation results showed "there may have been an inappropriate accessing" of the gas line that serves the building where the blast occurred.
"There`s certainly a possibility of impropriety," added de Blasio, who also praised firefighters, police and other emergency responders, and said "our hearts go out to the families of all who are affected, and the people of the neighborhood."
The firefighting and cleanup work at the scene may continue for as long as a week, said city Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. Once the site is declared safe, firefighters will sift the debris searching for potential victims and clues to the disaster`s cause, he said.
The City Hall news briefing presented a clearer but still incomplete overview of the explosion, ensuing inferno and chaos that forced scores of residents, workers and visitors to scramble from the buildings.
A Consolidated Edison crew was in the basement at 121 Second Ave. at about 2 p.m. Thursday to meet with contractors about pipes that had been installed in preparation for a planned upgrade of the building`s gas service, a police official and utility executive said.
The utility crew told the contractors additional work was needed and left at approximately 2:45 p.m. without noticing any signs of a gas leak, officials said. Con Edison President Craig Ivey said the gas utility crew`s findings meant gas was not yet flowing to the new pipes on Thursday.
The owner of the Sushi Park restaurant located on the building`s first floor smelled gas at approximately 3 p.m., officials said. He notified the building owner, who in turn contacted one of the contractors, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
The city fire department received the first emergency 911 alert about the blast roughly 17 minutes later.
No one called 911 or Con Edison before the explosion, said de Blasio. He urged New Yorkers to contact the emergency hotline or the utility immediately if they smell gas.
One of the building contractors and a relative of the five-story structure`s owner were among those injured in the explosion and fire, officials said.
Police had not yet issued official missing persons reports on the two people who haven`t been located, di Blasio`s office said earlier on Friday.
Tyler Figueroa told the Associated Press Thursday night that his 23-year-old brother, Nicholas, disappeared after going on a date at the Sushi Park restaurant.
Figueroa said that the couple was paying for their meal when the explosion rocked the building and surrounding area. Nicholas Figueroa`s date, who has been hospitalized with injuries, remembers only stumbling outside before losing consciousness, the brother told the Associated Press.
"I just pray my brother shows up," he said.
Friday morning was the first chance for many neighborhood residents to take a closer look at the disaster scene.
Naomi Machado, who has lived in the East Village neighborhood for 35 years, was in tears as she glanced at the rubble on her way to work.
"I`m totally devastated," she told AP. "For my neighbors, for our neighborhood. We all look out for one another."
Naho Ikechia, 36, was shocked by the scene — and grateful the damage wasn`t even greater.
"If it would have been at night, when the restaurants are full and people are home from work, it would have been so much worse," she told AP. "This is such a busy area."
She grieved for those who lived in the buildings. "All their memories there, destroyed. It`s so sad."
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