NEW YORK — Seven children died as flames ripped through a house in New York’s Brooklyn borough early Saturday, emergency officials said.
The blaze, which erupted just before 12:30 a.m. local time, appeared to have started accidentally in a hot plate that had not been switched off, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters.
Witnesses told the New York Daily News the children, ages 5 to 15, were trapped inside as their mother jumped out of a window.
“I heard the mother yelling, ‘My kids are in there! My kids are in there! Get them out! Get them out!’” neighbor Nate Weber told the Daily News.
“The mother was outside. She was burned,” he said.
A 45-year-old woman, believed to be the mother, and a 14-year-old girl were taken to a local hospital in a critical condition, New York Fire Department spokesman Michael Parrella said.
More than 100 firefighters turned out to battle the blaze in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood and brought it under control within an hour, he added.
Midwood has a high number of Orthodox Jewish residents. Nigro said the hot plate likely was used because of cooking restrictions tied to the Sabbath.