Fire department: Twelve dead in house fire in Philadelphia

At first there was talk of at least 13 deaths. Now the fire brigade has corrected the information.

Philadelphia – At least twelve people, including eight children, were killed in the fire in a residential building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday.

“That is one person less than stated at a previous press conference when the rescue work was still going on,” said the fire brigade. The authority had previously spoken of 13 dead, including seven children. There was no new information on the condition of two other victims who were initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

According to the authorities, the fire broke out on Wednesday morning for an initially unexplained cause in the middle floor of the three-story apartment building in the Fairmount district. After their arrival, the emergency services looked for victims throughout the building while fighting the flames in thick smoke and heat. The firefighters could have saved a child from the building, but it did not survive, it said.

The fire was largely under control after around 50 minutes. According to earlier information, eight people had been able to save themselves from the house.

“This was a tragic day for our city,” tweeted Mayor Jim Kenney. “Losing so many children is just shocking.”

After a virtual vigil with around 200 participants, according to media reports, some residents of the city also came to the scene of the accident in the evening. “That really hit me. It was so close, and the children, ”a retired German immigrant told the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. He thought it was better to come in person and show support than stay at home and sit in front of the TV.

The building is managed by the Philadelphia City Housing Authority, according to the fire department. There were four smoke alarms in the house, but none of them worked. According to media reports from authorities, there were different information about the number of residents. dpa