A 61-year-old coffee shop owner was killed in the North Carolina gas explosion that also injured 17 people on Wednesday morning.
Kong Lee was the owner of Kaffeinate Coffee Shop, which was located inside the downtown Durham building that exploded after a contractor who was drilling in the sidewalk hit a two-inch gas line.
Newly released before and after photos have shown how the family-owned coffee shop was completely decimated in the explosion.
Coffee shop owner Kong Lee, 61, was killed in the North Carolina gas explosion that also injured 17 people on Wednesday morning. He is pictured here with his family
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A before and after view show how Lee's Kaffeinate coffee shop was completely decimated by the horrific explosion
Lee was the owner of Kaffeinate Coffee Shop, which was located inside the building that exploded after a contractor who was drilling in the sidewalk hit a two-inch gas line in downtown Durham
On Wednesday night, the shop posted a story on its official Instagram page asking for privacy.
Wounded survivors of the 'catastrophic' gas leak were seen crawling away from the scene or being dragged out by emergency workers after the blast occurred shortly after 10am.
At the time, firefighters were evacuating workers from nearby buildings after receiving reports of a gas leak in the area less than an hour before the explosion.
Darren Wheeler, a Durham firefighter, was among those injured in the blast, according to ABC 11. He is currently out of surgery and 'recovering from his injuries'.
Six of the 17 were critically injured and eight of the wounded were Duke University employees. One was a Dominion Energy employee.
Five were taken to Duke Regional Hospital and seven were taken to Duke University Hospital. One had to be taken to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center.
At the time, firefighters were evacuating workers from nearby buildings after receiving reports of a gas leak in the area less than an hour before the explosion
Darren Wheeler (pictured), a Durham firefighter, was among those injured in the blast. He is currently out of surgery and 'recovering from his injuries'
Several of those who have been treated were released by Wednesday night.
Everyone known to be in the buildings at the time of the explosion has been accounted for, but a 35-member task force will still undergo a search-and-rescue operation.
Rescue crews will use cameras, police dogs, and large machinery to search the five buildings that were affected by the explosion.
'I feel a real sense of loss and grief,' Durham Mayor Steve Schewel said during a press conference. 'It's a very difficult day in that way.'
'But I feel something else as well, and that is a tremendous sense of gratitude. I saw firefighters with their hoses...fighting that fire not knowing if there was another potential gas explosion.'
Wounded survivors of the 'catastrophic' gas leak were seen crawling away from the scene or being dragged out by emergency workers after the blast occurred shortly after 10am
Fire ighters dragged people from the debris of the explosion while trying to put out the flames on Wednesday morning
An injured woman weeps and is comforted by another while sitting outside near the site of the explosion. Five buildings suffered damage including the one that was totally destroyed
Aerial footage shows the collapse of a building in Durham, North Carolina, after a gas explosion on Wednesday. The building is occupied by a building technology company but also houses a coffee shop and there is a psychiatrists' office nearby
The gas leak was first reported at 9.38am after a contractor, who was hired
