A minimum of 12 people have died, while four remain critically injured following a fire in an apartment building that took place in the Bronx region of New York, America, on the 28th December.
One of the victims is a one-year-old child, and the cause of the fire – located on Prospect Avenue, which is close to both the Bronx Zoo and Fordham University, remains unclear at this moment in time.
Over 160 firefighters were on the scene to bring the fire under control in New York – which is currently experiencing remarkably cold weather – with the first alarm sounding at around 19:00 local time.
Speaking about the fire, Bill de Blasio – Mayor of New York City – claimed that it was the most devastating fire in the city for at least 25 years, while also adding that a school nearby has been set up in order to shelter residents who evacuated from the building and are now homeless.
“We’re here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy,” De Blasio said. “Tonight, here in the Bronx there are families that have been torn apart.
“This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century. Based on the information we have now, this will rank as one as the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years.”
In addition, De Blasio stated that the New York fire service had successfully managed to rescue a minimum of 12 people from the building, which contains over 20 flats and was built just over a century ago.
According to the Associated Press, the fire is the deadliest in New York – excluding the 9/11 attacks – since a fire at a social club in the Bronx in 1990, which saw 87 people die.
