Thirteen people, including seven children, were killed in a fire at an apartment building in Philadelphia.
According to NEWS, fire officials say they received a call for a fire in a house that was turned into the Fermont district at 6.40 a.m. local time today 5/1.
Two people were taken to hospital and the fire was brought under control a little later.
According to firefighters, there were four smoke detectors in the building, but none were working.
Television images showed stairs on the smoke-blackened front of the house and holes dug by firefighters on the roof during the rescue and firefighting operation.
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 6:40 a.m. (local time) and battled the blaze for about 50 minutes to bring the blaze under control on the second floor of the three-story building.
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.
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.
Unimaginable tragedy in a Philadelphia fire this morning…13 lives lost including 7 children among the dead pic.twitter.com/UGlYBxnHmz
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) January 5, 2022
Prayers for a Philadelphia family. 13 people are killed in this early morning fire. 2 Individuals survived but are in critical condition. ???????????? https://t.co/P1FRwY3adb
— MommaT (@tweetmommybop) January 5, 2022
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