At least 20 people were killed, including nine children, in an apartment building fire in the Bronx, New York.
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The mayor of New York said, addressing the media at the scene of the disaster, that the authorities now count more than sixty injured.
“This is going to be one of the worst fires in our history. We know that we have 19 people deceased as well as several others in critical condition and more than 63 people injured, ”said Eric Adams, following visiting the scene of the fire.
Courtesy Twitter / FDNY
According to the New York Fire Department, the flames originated around 11 a.m. in a 19-story building, spreading to the second and third floors.
Everything suggests that the fire started in a dwelling whose door remained open. Thick smoke then spread throughout the building, summed up the commissioner of the fire department, Daniel Nigro, according to comments relayed by the CNN channel.
In doing so, the smoke transformed the stairwells into veritable traps for the inhabitants of the building who sought to evacuate. Dozens of victims, including several in cardiopulmonary arrest, were found in the steps, suffocated by the smoke which spread in the stairwells.
More than 200 firefighters responded to the scene and were able to quickly bring the fire under control, the fire department said.
