Second Body Found at Brooklyn Explosion Site

Photo courtesy of the NYPD

UPDATE, Tuesday: Francisca Figueroa’s sisters confirm to Diario Libre that the second person found dead in the building was Figueroa. She was a native of the Dominican Republic. Her sisters also confirm that Figueroa was having suicidal thoughts after being evicted by her landlord. More below.

A second body was found Monday in the rubble of a building that exploded on Saturday afternoon in Borough Park, according to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

The body has yet to be identified, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

A suspected gas leak caused a massive explosion on Saturday in a three-story apartment building at 4206 13th Ave.

Ligia Puello, 64, a resident of the third and top floor of the building, was discovered dead by first responders in the stairwell, the NYPD said in a statement.

And another of the building’s tenants — Francisca Figueroa, 48, a mother of two — wasn’t heard from in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, according to ABC7. Her family members fear she was inside.

The building is now no more than a pile of debris on 13th Avenue.

Rescue crews have been digging through the rubble for signs of Figueroa for two days. Police assisted with the search, according to the mayor’s office.

“She was a fighter — a real hard worker. She never said no to anything,” the missing woman’s sister, Milagros, told ABC7.

Milagros said she had been on the phone with her sister directly before the explosion. “She was very calm and said she had to clean. It was less than five minutes, and I never spoke to her again,” she said.

Sources told ABC7 that Figueroa, who lived on the second floor, was in the process of moving out of the building, and was planning on taking her gas stove with her.

That same gas stove is reportedly being investigated as the possible cause of the explosion.

There’s also speculation that Figueroa deliberately unhooked her stove from its gas hookup. NBC New York reports that she had recently posted “suicidal thoughts” to social media.

A neighbor told the New York Post that Figueroa was involved in a “bitter” court dispute with her landlord, who has been trying to evict her for some time. “The landlord told me it took a very long time to get Figueroa out… ,” the neighbor said. “There were bad feelings on both sides.”

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced on Sunday that he would be encouraging City Hall to pass a bill that would “would require licensure or certification in order to disconnect, replace, or modify gas line connections between the source and a home appliance such as a hot water heater or stove.”

Three additional passerby were injured in the explosion on Saturday — reportedly as they made their way home from synagogue.

A 34-year-old man and his 9-year-old son suffered leg injuries in the blast, police said, as did another 27-year-old man.

According to a fact sheet on the explosion issued by NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio on Sunday, four buildings adjacent to 4206 13th St. have been vacated as firefighters dig through the debris.

Around 50 residents have been displaced.

The American Red Cross will be operating a pop-up service center on Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Borough Park Library (1265 43rd St.) “to provide residents with necessary services and answer any questions they may have regarding the explosion,” the mayor’s office said.