The fire started just before 11 a.m. local time in an apartment on the second and third floors of the building, the city’s fire department said..
Within three minutes, firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze, encountering smoke that billowed the height of the 19-story building, Fire Commissioner Daniel A. paella.
He added that “the condition of the smoke in this building was unprecedented,” and that the victims suffered from severe smoke inhalation.
He said that the crews that entered the building found victims “on every floor”, and were transporting them in a state of “cardio-respiratory arrest”.
“The numbers are horrific,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. “It’s going to be one of the worst fires we’ve seen in modern times.”
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