19 dead in apartment building fire in New York – including several children
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At least 19 people died in a fire in a high-rise apartment building in the Bronx, New York. The authorities spoke of at least 31 seriously injured. Nine children are said to be among the dead.
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So far it is unclear why the fire broke out on Sunday morning.
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According to Mayor Eric Adams, 19 people were killed in a fire in an apartment building in the Bronx, New York told broadcaster CNN. Nine children were among the victims. 63 people were also seriously injured, more than 30 were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
“The numbers are terrible,” said Mayor Eric Adams, who spoke of a “tragedy”. It is believed that the death toll could rise further given more than 60 injuries, most of them life-threatening. Fire chief Daniel Nigro called the cause of the fire a broken electric heater.
Defective heating as the cause of the fire
“It started with a defective electric space heater,” says Nigro. “The fire has spread throughout the apartment, which extends over two floors.” In addition, the door of the apartment at the bottom of the building was left open, allowing deadly smoke to spread throughout the 19-story building.
The people were trapped in their apartments or in the stairwell by smoke. Firefighters found victims on every floor, many with severe smoke inhalation.
–Mayor Adams commended the firefighters who worked to fight the blaze.
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The fire broke out on Sunday morning (local time) on a cold, wet New York winter day. After a large-scale operation by around 200 firefighters, it was extinguished in just a few hours. Videos on social media showed images of thick smoke billowing through shattered windows.
Firefighters used ladders to get residents out of the home. According to Mayor Adams, firefighters continued to search for survivors even after they had run out of oxygen.
BREAKING NEWS: #FDNY responds to 5-alarm fire in the #Bronx, at least ’31 serious injuries to civilians’ reported. MORE: https://t.co/Czp0HfM0Q5 pic.twitter.com/7ZOBcaJboo
— News12BX (@News12BX) January 9, 2022
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Hours after the fire in the heart of the Bronx, the scene of the accident was still illuminated by blue lights. Hundreds of police, fire brigade and special teams continued to search for clues. An adjacent school was opened for the fire victims to provide housing for the now homeless.
The building is a block of flats for socially disadvantaged families with adjusted rents. The Bronx is the poorest borough of New York, with residents earning well below the average for the US east coast metropolis.
The accident marks one of the worst fires in New York’s recent history. In 1990, a fire at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx killed 87 people. The fire was attributed to arson. Twelve people, including eight children, died in a fire in an apartment building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. The fire broke out on the middle floor of a three-story apartment building. (dpa / zen)
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