Twelve people, including eight children, were killed in a fire in a public housing building in Philadelphia

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but firefighters said the four smoke alarms installed in the building do not appear to have worked.

Firefighters added that the building was too crowded when they discovered that 26 people lived in a building designed to house two families.

"" Losing so many children is devastating, "said the Philadelphia mayor

News agencies

06/01/2022

Thursday, 06 January 2022, 04:02 Updated: 04:44

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Twelve people, including eight children, were killed yesterday (Wednesday) when a fire broke out in a public housing building in Philadelphia, USA.

Firefighters corrected the death toll, having previously reported 13 people killed in the fire.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but firefighters in Philadelphia said the four smoke alarms installed in the building did not appear to have worked.

Firefighters added that they claimed "the building was too crowded" when they discovered that 26 people lived in a building designed to house two families.

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"Building was too crowded," 12 killed in a Philadelphia fire (Photo: AP)

"Losing so many children is just devastating. Keep those babies in your prayers," Mayor Jim Kenny told reporters at her news conference.

The first lady, Jill Biden, also responded to the incident and wrote on her Twitter account: "My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims of the tragic fire in Philadelphia."

"Crews arrived around 6:40 a.m. and saw flames from the front windows of the second floor," First Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy described the incident, "there was heavy smoke, heat and visibility was limited on all floors."

Murphy also explained that the "strange" configuration of the building - originally a single-family house split into two apartments - made navigation difficult.

Murphy added: "It was awful. I've been around for 35 years and this is probably one of the worst fires I've been to."

"Losing so many children is simply devastating" (Photo: AP)

The fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. on the second floor of a three-story building in the Fairmont neighborhood of the city.

The building is owned by the state-funded Philadelphia Housing Authority, the fourth largest housing authority in the United States.

Neighbors who described the incident told a story that they awoke to the sound of screams and the smell of fire, and ran outside to see flames lapping windows on the second floor.

"I knew some of these kids - I used to see them playing in the corner," said Danny McGuire, 34, who also lives in the neighborhood. "I can not imagine how more people could not get out - jump out of the window," she said.

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