6 dead, including 4 children, in NYC apartment fire

WASHINGTON

Six people died, including four children, when a raging fire ripped through a New York City apartment early Wednesday.

The fire started on the fifth floor of the Frederick Samuels Houses in a Harlem neighborhood at around 1:40 a.m., according to the New York Post.

Local media identified the deceased as 45-year-old mother Andrea Pollidore, along with her 33-year-old stepson Mac Abdularaulph and four other children listed by the Post as Elijah, 3; Brooklyn, 6; Andre, 8; and Nakiyra, 11.

Other media outlets listed Elijah's age as four years old. It is unclear which age is correct.

"Preliminarily we believe the fire was an accident and that it started in the kitchen on the stove, quickly extended out of the kitchen and eventually involved every room in this apartment including the two rooms where the victims were found," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters, according to the Post.

All of the victims were found dead in two bedrooms.

"The kitchen is the closest room to the front door and the fire escapes from this apartment are on the side of that apartment opposite from the bedrooms," Nigro said. "They were unable to get to either the door of their apartment or the windows on the fire escape."