NY City Apartment Fire Kills 12

NEW YORK (AP) -- Officials say New York City's deadliest residential fire in decades spread through every floor of a Bronx apartment building within a matter of minutes, killing 12 people and sending other residents scrambling down fire escapes to safety.

The blaze broke out Thursday night on the first floor of a five-story building.

Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH'-zee-oh) says the dead include a child around a year old, while four more people are fighting for their lives.

Some tenants of the building climbed down fire escapes. But the flames moved so fast that many never made it out of their apartments.

Witnesses describe seeing burned bodies being carried away on stretchers and young girls who had escaped standing barefoot outside with no coats.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

(KA)