Dead Man Found In Apartment Bathroom After Fire, Explosion: NYPD

ELMHURST, QUEENS — What began as an explosion that set an Elmhurst apartment building’s roof on fire, causing a partial building collapse and displacing dozens, has turned into an investigation into the death of a 26-year-old, police said.

On Tuesday morning around 10:25 a.m., firefighters rushed to an apartment building at 73-01 41 Avenue, and spent hours battling what turned into a 4-alarm blaze, FDNY reports show.

Once the fire was under control, firefighters found the unconscious man, later identified as a building resident named Anesti Bulgaretsi, in an apartment bathroom, according to fire officials.

On Tuesday night the FDNY said that the medical examiner would determine the cause of death — which remains under investigation as of Wednesday — but some sources have already begun to speculate.

Law enforcement sources told PIXII that Bulgaretsi was found with “multiple stab wounds,” leading them to believe that the fire might have been set to cover up his homicide. NYPD detectives, as well as homicide, arson and explosion officials, were said to be investigating the case, the sources told the news outlet.

ABC7, however, reported that Bulgaretsi’s death might have been a suicide. His body was found in his bathtub, and detectives who found a knife nearby were told that his wounds could have been self-inflicted, the news outlet reported.

While Bulgaretsi’s death remains under investigation as of Wednesday, other officials are at work dealing with the damage resulting from the fire.

Since the blaze caused the building’s roof to partially collapse, leaving one wall of the apartment “not structurally stable,” adjacent buildings have been vacated, leaving 44 people without homes, ABC7 reported.

The Department of Buildings, which was called in during the fire, and forensic engineers are at work repairing the building, while the Red Cross is helping people who were displaced, the news outlet reported.

In addition to building damage and displacement, four firefighters, among the 140 who battled the blaze, were hurt and sent to local hospitals with "minor injuries," fire officials said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the FDNY.