Fire Department of New York (FDNY) personnel work on the scene of an apartment fire in Bronx, New York, U.S., December 28, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Fire Department of New York (FDNY) personnel work on the scene of an apartment fire in Bronx, New York, U.S., December 28, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

 

Bronx, NY – New York City’s mayor says 12 people have been killed in a Bronx apartment building fire including a child around a year old.

Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH’-zee-oh) said during a briefing late Thursday that additional residents of the building were fighting for their lives with serious injuries.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro called the fire, “historic in its magnitude,” because of the number of lives lost.

The fire was reported just before 7 p.m. at a five-story building a block from the Bronx Zoo.

About 170 firefighters fought the fire and rescued fleeing tenants, working in temperatures in the teens.

As reported by Vos Iz Neias