200 firefighters on duty – 19 dead in house fire in New York

A major fire in a residential building in New York’s Bronx killed at least 19 people. A fire department spokesman said there were nine children among the dead. Stefan Ringel, a senior advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, confirmed the death toll. More than 60 people were injured, 13 of them are still in critical condition. New York fire chief Daniel Nigro told reporters on Sunday afternoon that most of the victims had suffered serious smoke inhalation.

The fire broke out on Sunday in the Twin Park Apartments, a 19th-floor apartment building. Around 200 emergency services went out to extinguish the flames, as the fire brigade announced. They had “found victims with cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest on every floor and carried them out,” explained Nigro. «This is unprecedented in our city. We are counting on numerous victims. “

The fire ignited in a maisonette apartment that comprised the second and third floors, said the fire chief. The emergency services found the door to the apartment open. This apparently enabled the fire to spread quickly and the smoke to rise quickly.

Nigro spoke of one of the worst fires in recent New York history and compared its severity to the fire at Club Happy Land in 1990, which resulted in 87 deaths. Back in the day, a man set the building on fire after getting into an argument with his ex-girlfriend and being out of the club.

A broken electrical heater is apparently responsible for the devastating fire. “It all started with a defective electric space heater. That is the cause of the fire. The fire has spread in the apartment, which extends over two floors, “said the city’s fire officer, Daniel Nigro, on Sunday. In addition, a door was open so that deadly smoke could spread throughout the building.