Elderly couple die in luxury high-rise blaze

nEW YoRK: An elderly Manhattan couple died in a blaze that engulfed their luxury high-rise apartment before dawn and sent flames roaring out the windows.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that cigarette smoking in bed may have caused the fire at the famed River House co-op on East 52nd Street.

Fire officials say 85-year-old Mary Merow was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 89-year-old husband, John Merow, was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center but died of his injuries.

Three firefighters were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.