Two people were missing on Friday after an explosion brought down three buildings and damaged a fourth property in New York's popular East Village, injuring 25 people, city officials said. Preliminary indications suggest the incident, which triggered a fire that lingered into a second day, was gas-related, raising fresh concerns about safety in some of Manhattan's older buildings. Local media identified them as a young man on a date at a sushi restaurant, in the building where the explosion happened, and a bus boy. Dramatic cell phone footage broadcast by TV channel PIX11 showed panicked people running in fear from the sushi restaurant.



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