the horrific gas explosion in east village on thursday brought manhattan to a standstill and left a lingering fear about the city wide, never ending building works photographer nathan blaney, who captured the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, was sat feet away in bull mccabe's bar when the now destroyed sushi restaurant exploded sprinting out the door, he grabbed his camera and documented the scene in a poignant collection of images scroll down for video  this is the moment emergency services rushed to a gas explosion which blew three east village buildings into oblivion on thursday  poignant: photographer nathan blaney, who captured the 9/11 attacks, was around the corner and documented the scene  fears: a residents kneels and anxiously clings to an escape ladder as the buildings around her disintegrate  workers from con edison reportedly visited the building for about 45 minutes after they left, the owner of the sushi bar smelled gas  onlookers gather and tend to people on the ground as the entire front of the restaurant collapsed onto the sidewalk  like his shots of the twin towers in 2001, the black smoke pouring out of the east village cafes and apartments is eerily still in blaney's photographs people are seen walking past covering their faces as an acrid smell permeated the streets faceless characters drag a man from the wreckage and a woman kneels, crying, on an escape ladder as the building disintegrates faceless characters drag a man from the wreckage two bodies were found among the debris on sunday and two men are missing  in shock: a worker, his face covered in blood and contorted in pain, cries as he is surrounded by first responders  helping everybody out: an off duty firefighter climbs down the escape route of building 121 after rushing to help the building is one of three that is now destroyed  ripped apart: the front of the building came clean off, exposing bedrooms and offices which later crumbled  workers can be seen climbing out of the restaurant as the smell of gas lingered  the entire block has been shut off by authorities since thursday as teams worked around the clock to wade through the rubble  blaney, the photographer was in a bar nearby when he heard the blast and ran to the scene  new yorkers covered their faces as an acrid smell permeated the streets as far as five blocks away  emergency: eventually, the fire service blocked off the route and officers flooded the area to search for trapped victims  panic: in the first few minutes, people were shouting 'bomb' and nypd detectives were scrambling to handle the situation  the smoke and fire continued to pour into the sky until the early hours of friday morning  shock: as firefighters are lifted in a crane to search for residents, onlookers stare  an apparent police detective speaks over a walkie talker as fire fighters approach the thick smoke  'in those first moments, people were saying 'bomb' rather than 'gas explosion' but either way, i had a sense of what images i was looking for as the scene evolved, i tried to document the events as they unfolded', blaney told mashable he said that, since 9/11, he is never without a camera 'i was happy that those who were injured were getting plenty of immediate appropriate attention, and i heard at least one person identify themselves as a doctor, so although conflicted, i was okay with sticking to my role in documenting the event,' he told the site on sunday night, authorities identified one of the bodies as 23 year old nicholas figueroa, a former model for hollister who had been on a second date at sushi park with his bowlmor lanes colleague his date, 22 year old theresa galarza, was pictured at the scene being fitted with a neck brace after she was reportedly hurled across the street by the force of the suspected gas explosion fearful: people on the ground shout up to a woman who stands, looking terrified, about 20 feet above the ground  helped down: a man climbs up the ladder, which appears to be dented by the blast, to help the woman  destroyed: bikes, chairs, walls, cabinets, clothes and curtains lie in a slump on the ground  lingering smoke: like his 9/11 photographs, blaney's images are poignant and still  crest fallen: pedestrians bow their heads in shock walking past the wreckage  disbelief: craning their necks, the crowd appears still as they survey the building  a man sits on the tarmac, shoeless, looking exhausted and staring into the distant as the impact sets in  she was later admitted to bellevue hospital with a broken nose and punctured lung it is believed figueroa was standing with 26 year old busboy moises locon when the building exploded locon has yet to be accounted for as officers work to identify the second body found among the debris four of the 22 people injured remain in critical condition eighteen of the 22 suffered non life threatening injuries workers from con edison reportedly visited the building (121) for about 45 minutes, the times reports after the workers left, the owner of the sushi bar reported smelling gas to the building's owner the explosion occurred 15 minutes later as workers went to look in the basement
23 year old poignant east village nathan blaney nicholas figueroa 26 year old moises locon figueroa
nathan blaney was in a bar feet from the sushi restaurant in east village when he heard the blast  he rushed out to see smoke pouring from the building as it slowly collapsed  poignant collection of photographs documents passers by, workers and officers scramble to respond  two men, 23 year old male model nicholas figueroa and 26 year old busboy moises locon, were declared missing  authorities pulled two bodies from the rubble; identified one as that of figueroa; investigation continues 