NEW YORK, NY – Three children were seen banging on an upstairs window as a fire engulfed their home, .shouting “Hey Allah!” over and over again. That was the account of neighbor Merlyn Persaue, 60, according to an interview with the New York Post.
By the time New York City firefighters and police officers responded to the home on Quimby Avenue early Sunday morning, it was already fully engulfed. First responders confirmed a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy died in the fire. A 10-month-old girl was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
“At approximately 0600 hours this morning we received a 911 call for a fire at this location. Units arrived in a little over four minutes and found heavy fire on the first and second floors. We immediately went to work removing some of the victims, and a 2nd alarm was quickly transmitted,” Assistant Chief Kevin Brennan said in a statement. “FDNY Fire Marshals are currently investigating the cause of the fire.”
A 22-year-old man rescued from the fire was also pronounced dead at the hospital.
Two other adults, a 21-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man are listed in critical condition.
“You could see their little hands banging on the windows,” Persaue said in an interview the New York Post . “They were screaming, the children, ‘Hey Allah! Hey Allah!’ which means, ‘Help me, God! Help me, God.'”
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries. The FDNY fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire. Police did not release the identities of the victims, but it is suspected they were all members of the same family.