A fire at an apartment building in the New York City borough of the Bronx has left at least 19 people dead, Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday.
The city's fire officials said the blaze, which was started by an electric heater, is one of the worst blazes in recent memory.
What we know so far
At least 19 people have died, Mayor Adams confirmed.
The fire started from a space heater in an apartment that spanned both the second and third floors, and only made it as far as the hallway, officials said.
But smoke still spread to every floor, probably because the door to the apartment where the blaze began was open, the city's fire department commissioner, Daniel Nigro, told reporters at a news conference.
"This is going to be one of the worst fires in our history," Adams said in an interview with CNN.
Stefan Ringel, a senior adviser to Adams, confirmed that nine children, aged 16 or younger, were among the fatalities.
Emergency crews said around 60 people were injured in total, while more than a dozen are in hospital and in a critical condition.
The fire broke out at a 19-story building in the Bronx around 11 a.m. (1600 GMT), with the blaze quickly spreading throughout.
Around 200 firefighters responded to the scene at East 181st Street , the city's fire department said, where they discovered victims on every floor of the building.
"Members found victims on every floor in stairwells and were taking them out in cardiac and respiratory arrest," fire department commissioner Nigro said at a press conference earlier on Sunday.
Many of the victims were suffering from smoke inhalation.
How did the fire start?
Fire commissioner Nigro said that the blaze was caused by a malfunctioning electric space heater.
The fire quickly spread through the duplex unit that the heater was in — climbing up the second and third floors.
The door to the apartment where the fire began was left open — causing a thick cloud of smoke to spread throughout the apartment building.
He added that there were smoke alarms located throughout the building.
Some of the residents who were trapped in their apartments broke open their windows in an effort to get air. Other stuffed wet towels under their doors to block the smoke.
Nigro said earlier that the smoke was so dense that it was "unprecedented."
'Tragedy beyond measure'
New York City Mayor Adams, who has officially been in the job for a little over a week, paid tribute to the victims.
"We've lost 19 of our neighbors today. It's a tragedy beyond measure," Adams said in a message posted on Twitter.
"Join me in praying for those we lost, especially the 9 innocent young lives that were cut short," he added.
