Seven children are among 13 people killed in a fire that broke out in an apartment in downtown Philadelphia, in the eastern United States, firefighters announced today.
According to a spokesman for the fire brigade at the scene, Craig Murphy, "seven children" are among the victims, after the fire that broke out early this morning in the Fermond district.
Their age is unknown
The exact age of the children has not been clarified at this time.
"Pray for these children," Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters.
Firefighters arrived at 06.40:50 a.m. (local time) and battled the blaze for about XNUMX minutes to bring the blaze under control on the second floor of the three-story building.
Eight managed to get out
Eight people managed to get out of the building using one of the two exits, Murphy explained to the press. "It was awesome," he described. "I've been doing this job for about 35 years and it's probably one of the worst fires I've ever seen."
A child and an adult were taken to nearby hospitals.
There were four smoke detectors in the building, but they were not activated, according to firefighters.
There is conflicting information about when smoke detectors were inspected.
How many lived
The fire department says it was last inspected in 2020. Dines Indala, vice president of the Philadelphia Social Housing Service, told reporters that the last annual inspection took place in May 2021.
According to him, in the building, which belongs to his service, there were apartments for two families and 26 people lived there.
in.gr