At least seven children died Saturday in a house fire in the New York borough of Brooklyn, officials said.
The boys and girls were between 5 and 15 years old. Another two people were injured - a woman close to age 40 and one of her daughters - according to officials at the New York Fire Department.
Local media said the blaze broke out soon after midnight in a three-story house. More than 100 firefighters were needed to douse the flames.
The Fire Department said the blaze occurred on Brooklyn's Bedford Avenue and that firefighters were able to control it an hour after it began.
The tragedy occurred on a night preceded by a snowstorm in the afternoon that coincided with the first day of spring.
According to the Daily News, the home that burned was occupied by Orthodox Jews, who have a large community in Brooklyn. The identities of the victims have not been revealed.
The children who died were related, but no details about them have been made public.
Witnesses told local media that inside the home were eight minors and the mother of some of them, who jumped out the window to find help as the flames spread through the house.
Images aired on local channel NY1 show the red-brick house with its interior destroyed by the flames, as firefighters were removing some of the equipment used for putting out the fire.
Also taking part in the work were personnel of Hatzolah, an emergency management service for Jewish communities.
"Two of the children weren't breathing when they brought them out," one of the Hatzolah volunteers told the daily New York Post.
The normally peaceful neighborhood is made up of single-family homes separated one from another, which kept the fire from spreading to other houses.
Municipal authorities will hold a press conference in the coming hours to provide details of the tragedy. EFE
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1CHBCHU
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