7 children dead, 2 critically injured in Brooklyn fire

Seven children died Saturday morning after a fire tore through a Brooklyn home, authorities say.
New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said two people were critically injured in the blaze.

Long said the dead are children ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old and are believed to be family members.


“Two of the children weren’t breathing when they brought them out. The firefighters were running with them down the street on stretchers,” a volunteer at the scene told The New York Post.

“The mother was covered in soot. It’s horrible inside.”

Firefighters received a call about the fire at a private home at 12:23 a.m. on Bedford Avenue.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze and have brought the fire under control. There was no immediate word on a cause of the fire.
Long said the fire is being investigated by the city fire marshal’s office.

The Post reported the fire started at a brick home. Firefighters worked to put out the fire as paramedics struggled to help victims.

Neighbor Nate Weber told the paper that he saw children being wheeled away on stretchers.

"I turned away. I didn't even want to look," he said.
Weber said he heard the children's mother yelling for help.

"I heard a woman yelling: `My kids are in there. Get them out. Get them out,"' he told the Post.