At least 12 people are feared dead after a fire ripped through a house in Philadelphia. Two others remain in critical condition.
Nine children are thought to have died, in addition to three adults, and an adult and another child have been taken to hospital.
Firefighters were called to the scene in the Fairmount neighbourhood of the city at 6.38am to battle a heavy fire in a three-story row house. When they arrived at the scene, flames were coming out of the second floor of the building and they worked for 50 minutes to regain control of the blaze.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) owns the home and inspections were carried out in 2019 and 2020 during which six smoke detectors were installed with 10-year batteries. A further inspection was carried out in May 2021.
As many as 26 people were believed to be living at the property which the Deputy Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said was a tremendous number to be living in a duplex.
He added that the fire was “one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to” during his 35 years of service.
First lady Jill Biden is among those to have sent condolences to the families of the victims.
