A THREE-YEAR-old boy who was playing with a stove caused the fire that killed 12 people in New York.
The toddler was playing with burners on a stove which ignited the fast-moving fire that tore through the apartment building, killing 12 people, including four children, the city’s fire department chief has confirmed.
“We found that this fire started in a kitchen on the first floor. It started from a young boy, three and a half years old, playing with the burners on the stove,” Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters, the New York Post reports.
“The fire got started, the mother was not aware of it, she was alerted by the young man screaming,” he added.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “It seems like a horrible tragic accident.”
The flames spread quickly through the kitchen, and the family’s apartment before it moved out into the corridor and along the stairwell of the apartment block.
While many residents were able to flee the building to safety, 12 people died in the blaze – including girls ages one, two and seven and a boy whose age was not given.
The fire was the deadliest seen in the city since 1990, when 87 people were killed at a social club fire in the same Bronx neighborhood.
