Bronx apartment fire: Baby among 12 killed in deadliest New York City for decades

Blaze broke out in building on Prospect Avenue near Bronx Zoo

At least 12 people have been killed and four more critically injured in a fire at an apartment building in the Bronx borough of New York City.

The victims include a one-year-old child, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The cause of the fire on Prospect Avenue, near the Bronx Zoo, is not yet clear.

Around 170 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control.

Mr de Blasio said blaze was one of the deadliest in the city in decades.

New York Fire Department ladder trucks at the scene of a fire in the Bronx (Reuters)

The fire is the worst in the city since 87 people were killed at a social club fire in the Bronx in 1990, excluding the September 11 attacks.

“Tonight in the Bronx we’ve seen the worst fire tragedy in at least a quarter of a century,’’ the mayor wrote on Twitter late Thursday.

At least 12 people were killed, including a one-year-old child, in the fire (EPA/ALBA VIGARAY)

“It is unspeakable, and families have been torn apart.”

New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a news conference with the mayor: “People died on various floors of the apartment, ranging in age from 1 to over 50.”

He said the fire broke out on the first floor but spread quickly because of the wind and those who died were on several floors.

“This tragedy is without question historic in its magnitude,” he added.

Apartment resident Thierme Diallo told the New York Post he escaped the burning building after someone woke him up.

“I was in my bed sleeping and somebody knock on the door shouting, ‘We have fire in the building. Get out! Get out!’ ” he said.

“I don’t know how I get out, no socks, nothing... Then, by the exit, I saw the glass coming down like flames.”

The building contained more than 20 apartments and was built more than 100 years ago, according to the New York Times.