Open door that may have fueled New York fire under investigation
New York authorities said on Monday the city was investigating a possible « maintenance issue » with a door that failed to close when devastating fire erupted in a Bronx apartment building a day earlier, killing 17 people, including eight children.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, just over a week into the job, said at a briefing that the city’s medical examiner determined the fire had claimed two fewer victims than the 19 announced on Sunday.
The blaze broke out on Sunday morning in the 19-floor Twin Parks North West building, which provided affordable housing units for low-income New Yorkers. Many of the residents were from the large Gambian community that lived in the neighborhood.
« This is a global tragedy as The Bronx and New York City is representative of the ethnicities and cultures across the globe, » Adams said during a briefing in front of the building. « This is an evolving crisis. An unspeakable tragedy. »
The catastrophe was likely to stir questions on safety standards in low-income city housing. It was the second major fire in a residential complex in the United States this week after 12 people, including eight children, were killed early on Wednesday when flames swept through a public housing apartment building in Philadelphia.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that a door from 15th floor to stairway was not functioning as it should, Nigro said, adding that residents would have been safer if they stayed in their apartments rather than exiting down stairways.
Some 60 people were injured in the blaze and 32 people had been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, officials said on Sunday.
Sources: Insider – Reuters
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