A building at a strip mall in Florida City is being torn down, months after it was damaged by a gas explosion. 7News cameras on Thursday captured demolition crews hard at work. Almost seven months after the propane blast rocked the shopping plaza on West Palm Drive, near Southwest 187th Avenue, t he condemned structure is being brought down. However, the scars remain for the 10 people that were injured and affected by the aftermath that day in May. Syndy Thelemaque tearfully watched from outside as crews took apart what remained of her dream restaurant, which was supposed to have its grand opening when it exploded. “You know, I’m just trying to keep it moving,” she said. At the time, Thelemaque had just left her restaurant, Caribbean Heart, with her 1-year-old child just minutes before the explosion. Unfortunateky, her husband was still inside. “He will never be the same, and I have four kids, I have two little ones, I have two kids under 2. I have to hold everything, deal with attorneys and all of those things; this is a lot,” said Thelemaque. Her husband, Roussain Thelemaque, suffered severe burns and head injuries. He had to be airlifted to the hospital. Now the couple are being represented by attorney Stephanie Ducheine-Walsh. “We’ve filed our lawsuit against Florigas,” said Ducheine-Walsh. “So many people are in so much problems, just because of one simple thing,” said Thelemaque. Ducheine-Walsh claims Florigas failed to follow their own safety protocols and test for a gas leak. The attorney said Florigas crews did an inspection two weeks before the explosion and were there again the day it happened. “They were helping them light all of the equipment, and what happened was, they went to light a fryer and when Florigas’ employee, who has been deposed, held down that button to light the actual fryer, the explosion took place,” said Ducheine-Walsh. Thelemaque, who is a teacher, had poured her life savings into this business, much like the other business owners in the mall who must now start over and fight for what they say is right. “At the end of the day, they want Florigas to take responsibility. It’s in the fire report that they were negligent,” said Ducheine-Walsh. “It is a miracle that we’re still alive, and that’s why I’m grateful every day for being alive. Obviously, I lost everything, and I’m in so much financial strain right now because we never planned for this to happen,” said Thelemaque. “I put everything we had into the opening of this — all licensing, you know, hire engineer, hire everybody that we need to get — and boom, within a second, we lost everything.” Demolition crews could be seen taking out stoves and other appliances that will be preserved as evidence for this case. The lawsuit and the investigation into this gas explosion is still ongoing. ...read more read less