As the medical examiner works to confirm the identity of the second body found at the site of Thursday's East Village explosion, the families of the victims attended a vigil Monday night in their honor. NY1's Lori Chung filed this report.

"He wanted to experience the world and see the world," said Anna Figueroa, the mother of Nicholas Figueroa, who was killed in last Thursday’s explosion in the East Village.

Figueroa’s parents say their son went to Sushi Park on a date hoping to try a new dish—octopus. 

That lunch date ended in tragedy when a gas explosion ripped through the restaurant at 121 Second Avenue.

"He was beautiful. I can't wait til I see my son again and I can hold him, kiss him and tell him that I love him," said father Nick Figueroa.

Loved ones gathered at the site to remember the 23-year-old college graduate and to show gratitude for the emergency crews who worked to find the remains of a young man that hoped one day to become an EMT himself. Two bodies—believed to be Figueroa's and 27-year-old Moises Lucón's—were recovered over the weekend.

"He came out in one piece and that's the most we can ask for. That's the most we were praying for," Anna Figueroa said.

The somber crowd lighting candles and releasing balloons to honor Figueroa and Lucón—a worker at the restaurant. He is thought to have been behind the cash register when Figueroa was paying his bill. Figueroa's date survived.

Crews are still clearing the wreckage of the destroyed buildings as investigators look for answers.

“Obviously an investigation underway, now involving not only our fire marshals and our NYPD detectives, but obviously involving the district attorney’s office as well," the mayor said Monday.

In the days since the explosion, residents in the neighborhood have been on edge.

"Soon after that happened, we did get a few complaints of people smelling gas. Now, they're all panicking. And it could be as simple as a pilot light out in the apartment and they are calling it in," said maintenance worker Jose Sanchez.

Officials say a gas line may have been improperly tapped by private contractors before the explosion. 

Officials say Con Edison workers found an illegal gas tap at one of the buildings last august and ordered it fixed. Now, investigators will be looking at the gas piping at the cellar level of those buildings to check for any signs of wrongdoing and to see whether a crime has been committed.