A father and his five children were on the second floor of the house, he and three of his children jumped out of the window, but two were trapped.
A fire claimed the lives of a 19-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brothercaused by an electric bicycle, in a home in Queens (New York), local media reported on Tuesday.
firefighters said that the bike was near the front door of a two-story residenceconnected to an electrical extension, when it caught fire and the fire spread rapidly upstairs preventing them from leaving.
In the apartment on the second floor were a man and his five children. They could jump out the window the father and three of his children, but two others were trapped and passed away.
“I heard someone yell ‘help me, help me’. I told him to get out of the house. She said: ‘I can’t, the flames are going up the stairs'”said a neighbor who called the emergency number to channel 2 of the CBS network.
Firefighters warned in an Instagram message that it is dangerous to leave electric bikes near the exits of buildings, as they can cause fires with an explosion that gives “very little chance of escape to the occupants”.
They also indicated that only this year there have been 59 fires caused by a lithium battery and five people have died, so they urged the public to buy “compatible chargers” with your bikes and check its quality.
last month the New York mayor signed a package of laws including one that tries to prevent the sale of contraband batteries and chargers, which do not meet safety requirements.
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