Western Mail

Four children perish in Bronx apartments blaze

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FOUR children are among the 12 people killed in New York City’s deadliest residentia­l fire in decades.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN that other people are still fighting for their lives. He said first responders saved at least 12 lives.

Those who died in the Bronx fire on Thursday night include three girls – aged one, two and seven – and a boy whose age was not given, the New York Police Department says

Some residents made it down fire escapes but the flames moved so fast that many never made it out of their apartments.

Witnesses describe seeing burned bodies being carried away on stretchers and young girls who had escaped standing barefoot outside with no coats.

The cause of the fire remains under investigat­ion.

Fire Commission­er Daniel Nigro said the blaze was “historic in its magnitude” because of the number of lives lost.

Excluding the September 11 attacks, it was the worst fire in the city since 87 people were killed at a social club fire in the Bronx in 1990.

“Our hearts go out to every person who lost a loved one here and everyone who is fighting for their lives,” Mr Nigro said.

The blaze broke out on the first floor of a five-storey building just before 7pm and quickly ripped through the roughly century-old structure, which stands in a row of similar apartment buildings a block from the grounds of the Bronx Zoo.

Around 170 firefighte­rs worked in bone-chilling -9C (15F) cold to rescue about a dozen people from the building.

Water sprayed from hoses froze on the street.

 ??  ?? > Firefighte­rs leave after putting out a major house fire on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx. Over 170 firefighte­rs responded to the blaze
> Firefighte­rs leave after putting out a major house fire on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx. Over 170 firefighte­rs responded to the blaze

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