AN INFANT is among twelve people killed in a fire that swept through several floors of an apartment block in New York.
The fire erupted shortly before 7pm New York time on Prospect Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a primarily residential neighbourhood known as the "Little Italy" of the borough, adjacent to the Bronx Zoo and Fordham University.
The New York City Fire Department said more than 160 firefighters responded to the four-alarm blaze.
The blaze started on the first floor of the brick building and quickly spread upstairs, NY Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigrotold reporters at a news conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Mr de Blasio said the death toll ranked as "one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years" in the city.
Tonight in the Bronx we've seen the worst fire tragedy in at least a quarter of a century. It is an unspeakable tragedy, and families have been torn apart. pic.twitter.com/0kCFMzxt79
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) December 29, 2017
Four people are in hospital in critical condition "fighting for their lives," he added.
Authorities said firefighters rescued 12 people from the building.
Firefighters leave after putting out a major house fire on Prospect avenue on December 28, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Picture: Amir Levy/Getty Images)"People died on various floors of the apartment, ranging in age from one to over 50," Mr Nigro told reporters.
"In a department that is surely no stranger to tragedy, we're shocked by the lives lost."
Two of the dead were found in a bathtub, according to cable news station NY1.
"Hold your families close and keep those families here in the Bronx in your prayers," Mr de Blasio said in a message to New Yorkers.
One witness, Rafael Gonzalez, who lives across the street from the building, told television station WCBS-TV, an affiliate of CBS News, he saw some youths on a fire escape of the burning building as the fire raged.
