NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (BNA) At least 19 people, including 9 children, died in a fire Sunday at a Bronx apartment building in one of the worst fires in New York City in decades, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams described the outcome of the fire as “appalling.” “This is going to be one of the worst fires we’ve seen in the modern era,” he said.
The death toll was confirmed by Stefan Ringel, Adams’ senior adviser.
A city official who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the number of children killed, according to the Associated Press.
Ringel said more than fifteen people were injured and 13 people were still in a critical condition in hospital.
The majority of the victims were suffering from heavy smoke inhalation, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a news conference earlier that afternoon.
He told a news briefing in the afternoon that the firefighters “found victims on every floor and were taking them out because of cardiac and respiratory arrest.” “This is unprecedented in our city. We expect there will be many dead.”
According to the FDNY, nearly 200 firefighters responded to the scene Sunday at the Twin Park Apartments, a 19-story building on East 181 Street.
On-site news photographers captured images of firefighters entering the upper floors of the burning building on a ladder, several lame children being given oxygen after being carried from the building and evacuees with their faces covered in soot.
Negro compared the severity of the fire to that of the Happy Land social club, which killed 87 people in 1990 when a man set the building on fire after he got into an argument with his ex-girlfriend and was kicked out of the club.
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