A Guyanese man was among three people killed in an early morning fire at a house in Queens, New York on Saturday.
According to reporters, the fire was reported sometime around 05: 37h at 90-31 48th Avenue in Elmhurst.
The New York Post reported that a second-floor resident of the home was involved with two of the dead immigrants – one from Guyana and the other from Morocco.
The Guyanese man is unknown.
The flames were reported to be so intense that at least one person jumped from the third floor to escape.
Two of those killed Saturday could be seen struggling to escape, and may not have been able to get out because a door that led to a second-floor terrace was locked, sources and a witness told The Post.
“I watched two men die in front of me because I saw them surrounded and smoked by the smoke,” a first-floor resident told The Post.
Viewers could hear crying, the article noted.
There was one “guy screamed, ‘Help, help,’ but there was nothing I could do. There was too much fire, ”the second-floor resident, who gave his name as Samir, told The Post.
The article said the Queen’s home is regularly cited by the city for illegally packing tenants.
One man who left the building a year ago told The Post that he was the former senior executive of the building and once lived there among 30 other people.
Saturday’s fire also left four others, including two firefighters, with minor injuries, officials said. The Post reported that one firefighter crashed through a floor, but was eventually able to reach safety.
Viewers could hear crying. FDNY Chief Thomas Richardson said there were reports of eight people living in the house, which was badly damaged.
“The whole roof fell to the third floor,” said Richardson, acc.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.
“The flames were crazy. They were shooting out the windows and shooting the back of the house. He eventually broke through the roof, ”Fernando Andujar, who lives across the street, told The Post. “It spread to the home next door. It was bad. It was a very big inferno. ”