Chicago apartment fire kills 8 people

CHICAGO— Eight people, including six children, were killed when a fire broke out before dawn Sunday at a Chicago apartment in one of the deadliest fires in the nation’s thirdlargest city in years, officials say. Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Merritt said two others are in hospital in serious condition. And one of the children who died was an infant, according to Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago.

A makeshift memorial along a nearby sidewalk included crosses for each child who died — a small Mickey Mouse doll sat next to one. The Rev. Clifford Spears of Saint Michael Missionary Baptist Church led a crowd that gathered in prayer, the Chicago Tribune reported. A candlelight vigil was planned for Sunday night.

Officials had not released the names or ages of the victims, all of whom were in the same residence. Awoman who saw the blaze as she was returning home from work alerted people and gave them a chance to escape, Santiago said. She called 911 about 4 a.m., then began knocking on doors in the largely Hispanic Little Village neighbourhood on the city’s southwest side.

“So the female who did that saved a lot of lives,” Santiago said.

At least two buildings caught fire, one of them described by fire department officials as a coach house. The cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined.

Merritt said investigators have not found any working smoke detectors.