Taken from EFE
NEW YORK - Yesterday's fire in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City left 17 people dead, eight of them children, Mayor Eric Adams clarified today, thus lowering the death toll from 19 reported yesterday.
But on Monday morning, “many are still fighting for their lives” in one of the seven hospitals where they were admitted, the mayor clarified at a press conference at the scene alongside Fire Chief Dan Nigro and Bronx County officials.
He confirmed that an electric stove located on the second floor was the source of the fire, and the residents of that apartment, in trying to escape the fire, left the door open, a detail that aggravated the consequences of the fire: "Close your doors," the mayor repeated several times as advice to avoid similar tragedies.
Adams said they are receiving calls of solidarity from all over, including from President Joe Biden, who called him today to offer all his support and any help they may need; for his part, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also offered his condolences to the victims.
Nigro specified that most of the deaths occurred not from burns, but from poisoning due to the smoke that rose from the second floor throughout the 19 floors of the building.
The 120 families who occupied this building were evacuated, and those who did not suffer poisoning or burns have been housed in four hotels in the same district; the mayor promised them all a quick relocation, either back to their homes or to other housing “in decent conditions”.
The mayor emphasized the multi-ethnic character of the neighborhood in general and of that building in particular, with a large percentage of immigrants, whom they encouraged yesterday to come forward to ask for help or compensation even if their status is irregular, with the promise that they would not suffer any persecution for that detail.
Among the victims are a large number of Gambians or people of Gambian descent, as confirmed today by the ambassador of this African country, Sheikh Omar Faye, who was present at the scene. “My country is in a state of shock,” said the ambassador, who traveled specifically from Washington.
There are suspicions that there are also Dominicans among the victims, according to sources at the Dominican consulate in New York who spoke to Efe, since many families from this community lived in the building, but there is no certainty about the number of compatriots affected.
The Dominican consul Eligio Jáquez, who was present along with Adams and the district authorities, was going to tour the shelters and hospitals in the area to verify the presence of compatriots among those affected.
