NY Daily News – October 05, 2015
by Anthony Izaguirre, Joseph Stepansky, Stephen Rex Brown
A 48-year-old woman who lived in a Brooklyn building that exploded remained missing a day after the blast as authorities Sunday identified the body found in the rubble.
Ligia Puello, 64, who lived on the third floor of the Borough Park building, was found in the stairwell of the charred ruin, the NYPD said.
Meanwhile, authorities continued searching for Francisca Figueroa, who was in the building Saturday when the explosion occurred, her distraught sister said.
“She’s disappeared. I don’t know. Nobody’s found my sister,” a sobbing Niurca Figueroa, 44, said. “They haven’t found her.”
Firefighters suspect the explosion was caused by a gas leak.
Figueroa said her sister was on the second floor cleaning out her apartment because her landlord pressured her to move, although it wasn’t clear why.
“They wanted her to get out,” Figueroa said.
The blast at 1:05p.m. gutted the three-story building and blew the facade of the building onto 13th Ave. near 42nd St.
The building’s owner did not return a phone call. As Figueroa spoke, more than 70 emergency responders sifted through the wreckage.
Authorities said 13 people were hurt by the explosion.
They included a 34-year-old man with a broken leg and ankle, as well as a 9-year-old boy with an injured leg. A 27-year-old man also had minor injuries to his legs. All three were treated at New York Methodist Hospital, according to the NYPD.
Residents of the neighborhood recalled the devastation, which choked the block with thick smoke.
“It was so black that you couldn’t even see in front of your face,” said neighbor Susan Ortiz, 54. “You couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. My eyes were just burning. It was black as night.”
Authorities were investigating whether a gas leak believed to have triggered the blast was caused by the removal of a stove by a second-floor tenant who was moving out. It was unclear whether the tenant was Figueroa.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams cautioned that “there’s no concrete evidence” at this early stage of the investigation about the the cause.
“We need to have a real conversation about gas safety in this city,” Adams said. “Anytime you have a loss of life, government must pause and examine what they can do better.”
City Hall said 49 people were displaced by the explosion. Officials ordered five buildings evacuated.
City Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn) said two buildings next door to the blast site would likely have to be demolished.
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