At least 19 dead in New York City apartment fire: mayor

At least 19 people have died and dozens are injured after a fire tore through a high-rise apartment building in the New York borough of the Bronx, Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday.

“US media reported that several children were among the dead,” reported AFP.

“We know that we have 19 people who are confirmed dead, as well as several others in critical condition,” Adams, who has been mayor for barely over a week, told CNN, adding that 63 people had been injured.

The injured were taken to five hospitals; many suffered from cardiac and respiratory arrest, the New York Times reported.

At least 200 firefighters responded to the blaze, which broke out mid-morning on the second and third floors of a 19-story building on East 181st Street, several blocks west of the Bronx Zoo.

Photographs and video posted on social media showed flames and thick black smoke billowing out of a third-story window of the brick building as firefighters operated on a nearby ladder.

“The cause of the fire was not immediately clear,” added AFP.