19 Dead Including 9 Children In Deadly New York City Apartment Fire
A major fire broke out on Sunday, Jan. 9th leaving 19 people dead, including the lives of 9 children. The deadly blaze occurred at a residential apartment building in the Bronx after an electric space heater malfunctioned and sparked the flames. Another 32 people were sent to the hospital with life-threatening conditions.
According to CNN, mayor Eric Adams has described the incident as one of the worst fires the city has experienced,. The FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro confirmed that 63 people were injured from the fire. Many of the wounded have suffered from severe smoke inhalation.
In a news conference after the incident, senior adviser to Adams, Stefan Ringel, said many of the residents were originally from the West African country The Gambia. The ages of the children who died were 16 years old and younger.
An estimated 200 firefighters were called onto the scene to battle the flames coming from the third floor of the 19-story high-rise building on 181st Street in the Tremont neighborhood.
Mamadou Wague, the resident of the third-floor duplex where the fire started, lives with his wife and eight children, one of whom was trapped on the burning bed.
"I don't want anybody's life -- I don't want to hear anybody dead in this fire, that's what I worry about," Wague told ABC 7 New York. He was able to make out alive with his children and wife.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul went on Twitter to express her condolences to victims stating she is "horrified by the devastating fire."
"My heart is with the loved ones of all those we've tragically lost, all of those impacted, and with our heroic FDNY firefighters. The entire state of New York stands with New York City," she wrote.
The fire has since been put out.
