At least 19 people died in a fire in an apartment building for socially disadvantaged families in the New York borough of the Bronx. This was confirmed by the new mayor of the US east coast metropolis, Eric Adams. The 61-year-old spoke of “one of the worst fires” in the city’s history. The number of victims is “terrible”. Nine children and young people were among the dead, he tweeted.
At least 63 residents were injured, some of them life-threatening, as fire chief Daniel Nigro said in a press conference. “The last time we suffered such a terrible loss of life was a fire over 30 years ago, also here in the Bronx.”
scenes of terror
Nigro reported that the door to a burning apartment on the first and second floors was left open. Thick smoke then quickly spread over all 19 floors. Victims were found on every floor, many with severe smoke inhalation. There were no fire escapes.
Rescuers rescue an injured person
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Residents of the house, who were obviously trapped by the flames, would have waved in despair from the windows, said an eyewitness. “A lot of people panicked.” However, nobody wanted to jump out of the building.
After a large-scale deployment of around 200 firefighters, the fire was finally extinguished. The fire was probably triggered by a portable electric heater in a bedroom, as initial investigations revealed.
wa/ack(dpa, afp, rtr)
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