Fire engulfed a building housing Guatemalan immigrants Saturday, collapsing part of the roof, trapping residents and killing at least five people, authorities said. Four people in the building were injured, including an infant who was tossed out the window by a woman frantically trying to save him.
The infant was in critical condition with a fractured skull after bystanders below were unable to catch him, officials and witnesses said. At least one adult was hospitalised, and 13 fire-fighters were injured, none of them seriously, officials said. The cause of the fire in a Brooklyn neighbourhood, home to a diverse population of Russians, Hispanics and Chinese, was being investigated.
The fire started around 2:30 am and soon engulfed the three-story building on a busy commercial strip, consuming a ground-floor Japanese restaurant and two apartments on the upper floors. The stairwell between the floors collapsed, as well as part of the roof, trapping residents, according to fire officials. The blaze was under investigation. Most of the building's residents were from Guatemala, neighbour Juan Gabriel told The New York Times.
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