Seven children killed in fire in Brooklyn, New York

SEVEN children believed to members of the same family have been killed in fire at a home in Brooklyn, New York.

New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long says two people are also critically injured.

He says the dead are children ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old, and they are believed to be family members.

The New York Daily News reports the Orthodox Jewish mother and her eight children were trapped in the infeo.

One of the children died at the scene, the others died as they were rushed to hospitals with severe bus.

The mother was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and her lone surviving child was taken to Staten Island University Hospital North with serious to critical injuries.

The New York Post reported that as firefighters worked to put out the fire, paramedics struggled to help the victims.

Neighbour Nate Weber told the Post that he saw children being wheeled away on stretchers.

“I tued away. I didn’t even want to look,” he said.

Weber said he heard the children’s mother yelling for help.

“I heard a woman yelling: ‘My kids are in there. Get them out. Get them out,’” he told the Post.

Firefighters received a call about the blaze at a private dwelling on the 3300 block of Bedford Avenue at 12:23am EDT on Saturday.

Long says more than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze and brought the fire under control.

There was no immediate word on a cause. Long says it’s being investigated by the city fire marshal’s office.