NEW YORK (December 29, 2017): At least twelve people, including several children including an infant, were killed in a fast-moving fire and leaving four others fighting for their lives officials said.
The devastating blaze broke out shortly before 7:00pm (0000 GMT Friday) in the 25-apartment building opposite the Bronx Zoo, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US financial capital.
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A one-year-old child was among those killed in the fire on a bitterly cold night with temperatures well below zero, as Red Cross volunteers handed out blankets and set up makeshift shelter in a nearby school.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told to reporter that This will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years,
“This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century,” NY Mayor added.
The fire began on the first floor and spread rapidly to all floors of the building on Prospect Avenue,
The cause of the blaze was not immediately cleared by officials
“I am sorry to report 12 New Yorkers are dead, including one child as young as one year old,” de Blasio told reporters after fire fighters extinguished the flames.
“There are four people critically injured who are fighting for their lives, other serious injuries as well,” he added.
Television footage showed fire fighters plucking panicked residents to safety from a fire escape.
According to US Media Reports, Two of the dead were discovered in a bath tub full of water, where they had apparently sheltered from the blaze.
At least 12 people rescued by fre fighters who will survive but the search of the building continues, and the death toll could rise further, the mayor warned.
“This tragedy is, without question, historic in its magnitude. Our hearts go out to every family who lost a loved one here and everyone fighting for their lives,” said Fire Department chief Daniel Nigro.”People died on various floors, they range in ages from one to over 50,” he added. “In a department that´s certainly no stranger to tragedy, we´re shocked at this loss.”
It was the second deadly New York residential blaze in less than two weeks. A mother and three children were killed in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn when a fire tore through their home on December 18.
In March 2007, 10 people were killed in another fire in the Bronx that tore through a house that was home to two immigrant families, which had been the worst fire in the city since 1990 apart from the September 11, 2001 attacks that brought down the Twin Towers.
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