Pittsburgh native Akil Drake died in a building explosion in Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (KDKA) — The identity of the victim killed in an explosion in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon has been released.

He was identified by the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office as 27-year-old Akil Drake of Pittsburgh.

The building that exploded houses a Chase Bank. Drake was an employee of the bank and was working at the time of the explosion.

Chase Bank issued the following statement to KDKA-TV:

“The JPMorgan Chase family mourns the loss of our colleague. Our sincere condolences go out to her family, as well as to our injured employees, their families and everyone else affected by this tragedy. We will continue to work with local authorities to support them.”

Drake graduated from Penn Hills High School in 2015. He played football at Penn Hills, which led to his off-field role with the Youngstown State football team in college. His hard work and determination are what those close to him remember.

The devastating news was hard for John Peterman, Drake’s former football coach at Penn Hills. He said Drake is the type of player every coach wants.

“He always did what we asked of him and that was a great trait of his,” Peterman said.

That hard work continued at Youngstown State, where Drake worked under Mark Preto on shooting, editing and producing college football videos. He graduated in 2019 with a major in finance.

“He worked hard. He was someone you wanted to see succeed in life or help if you could,” Preto said.

Those close to him remember Drake for his smile.

“Whether at soccer practice, at school or in the hallways, he was always in a good mood,” Peterman said.

Drake managed to finish school and always worked to improve himself. Preto felt that Drake had everything together in his life. This tragedy has left him speechless and he doesn’t know what to say to Drake’s family and loved ones.

“Nothing can express what they are going through. I could express my thoughts and prayers to them, but that is said too often,” Preto said.

In a statement to KDKA-TV, the Penn Hills school district said, among other things, that it “expresses its deepest condolences to Akil’s family and the others affected by this tragic explosion. Akil will be missed by all of us.”

Youngstown State said in a statement to KDKA-TV: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Akil’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. Our deepest condolences also go out to those injured and their families, as well as everyone affected by this incident.”

Seven injured in explosion, some still in hospital

In addition to the death of 27-year-old Drake, seven other people were injured in the explosion that rocked the bank and the apartment building in the Realty Building on East Federal Street around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Finley said seven people were taken to the hospital and one of them was on a ventilator. The Youngstown mayor said six of them worked at the bank.

According to our CBS partner WBKN, one person was in critical condition as of Tuesday, three were treated and released, and three others were still in the hospital.

Cause of explosion still unclear

Since then, the gas supply to the entire block has been shut off as a precautionary measure while investigations into the cause of the explosion that ripped away the ground floor of the 13-story building continue.

Although it is not yet known, witnesses said it “felt like a small earthquake.”

“It was a loud bang,” said Damia Rizwan, who lives a block away from the explosion site. “My house shook.”

In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending “pipeline and hazardous materials investigators” to the scene of the accident.