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2 Bodies Pulled from Rubble After East Village Explosion, Officials Say

By Aidan Gardiner | March 30, 2015 7:58am | Updated on March 30, 2015 1:58pm
 Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Lucon have been missing since the blast, sources said.
Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Lucon have been missing since the blast, sources said.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg, Twitter/@NYPD9Pct and Facebook/an.isolated.system

EAST VILLAGE — Rescue crews pulled two bodies from the East Village blast site Sunday as they began clearing rubble from a gas explosion that leveled three buildings, officials said.

Nicholas Figueroa, 23, and Moises Lucon, 26, were killed Thursday afternoon, when an explosion tore through Sushi Park, a restaurant at 121 Second Ave., sources said.

Figueroa was on a date in the restaurant, and Lucon worked there. Officials, however, couldn't confirm the identities of the bodies found.

The blast, and the ensuing blaze, leveled 121 Second Ave. and two neighboring buildings, officials said.

The fire burned until 6 p.m. Saturday, when crews were finally able to bring it under control and begin the search and clean-up process, officials said.

They'd recovered the bodies by Sunday afternoon, officials said.

Crews had also cleared about 750 cubic yards of debris as of Sunday morning, about a third of the rubble created by the explosion, officials said.

Along with the demolished apartment buildings, occupants of four other nearby structures remain under vacate orders, officials said.

The Red Cross is providing assistance to 64 households, including 125 adults and 5 children, officials said.