19 people died in a fire in a building in New York

 

 A malfunctioning heater caused a fire that engulfed a residential building in New York (in the Bronx) with thick smoke, killing 19 people, including nine children on Sunday in the deadliest fire in the metropolis in three decades, writes the American newspaper Politico.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the fire "started from a faulty electric heater" in an apartment building and covered the second and third floors of the 19-storey building. The door to the apartment was left open, allowing the smoke to spread quickly throughout the building, Nigro said.

 Some residents "could not escape because of the smoke," Nigro said. Firefighters "found victims on all floors who had died of cardiac and respiratory arrest," he said, calling the incident "unprecedented."

Stefan Ringel, a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, said the children killed were 16 or younger. Many of the building's residents were from the West African state of Gambia, Adams said, with a large Muslim community.

 Thirteen people remain in critical condition, Ringel said. A total of more than 60 people were injured. Most of the victims died of smoke suffocation, Nigro said. Adams called the death toll "appalling."

Approximately 200 firefighters responded to the call around 11 a.m. Sunday.