A third body has been found inside the Bronx apartment building that was destroyed by an explosion and fire earlier in the week, raising the death toll to three. According to Eyewitness News, the discovery came at 374 East 209th Street in the Norwood section of the Bronx, less than 24 hours after the FDNY had said there were no remaining victims inside the wreckage. Reporter Anthony Carlo, at the scene in Norwood, said some residents watched today as the third victim was recovered from the ruined building.
For the people who live there, the grim discovery added a new layer of anguish. Carlo reported that residents have been dealing with the painful process of not knowing what happened to some of their neighbors, and now face the question of which neighbor's body was pulled from the rubble. The city's medical examiner's office will have to make a positive identification and determine the cause of death before any of the victims can be named.
The explosion and fire happened at the building on East 209th Street on Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters found the first deceased victim on Wednesday, and it then took until Friday to locate the second, who is believed to be that man's wife. The third body was found on Saturday, three days after the initial blast, in a search that has stretched across the better part of a week.
The recovery effort has been complicated by the condition of the building itself. The FDNY first had to shore up the structure because of a floor collapse that had made it dangerous to enter. Last night, the department said there were no additional reports of missing residents after the second body was found, though it continued urging anyone with knowledge of someone still unaccounted for to come forward. A third body was then indeed found today.
Beyond those killed, many residents have been left with nowhere to go. Eyewitness News spoke with a tenant who described the struggle of being suddenly displaced through no fault of their own. "I feel it's unfair. I wasn't the cause of this fire, and I feel like I need help. And I don't know where to reach out to, who to reach out to," the tenant said.
In response, a good Samaritan has stepped in to help those who lost their homes, starting a donation drive with the help of her church to collect for the affected tenants. "It was not just the fire. It was the explosion, and no one knows how it happened as of yet," she said, adding that rather than just waiting and sitting around for news, "we can actually give back to those people who have lost a lot."
Amid the loss, there were also smaller moments of rescue: three dogs were pulled from the building the day before after firefighters could hear barking inside. FDNY marshals are still working to determine the cause of both the explosion and the fire. As for the displaced tenants, some told Eyewitness News they are supposed to stay in the hotel where they were placed until Thursday, but they do not know what comes next after that.