At least 38 people were injured Saturday in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in New York’s Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, according to local fire officials.
In a briefing they have detailed that firefighters received a call shortly after 10.00 hours (local time, 16.00 hours in Spain), by a fire broke out on the twentieth floor of the block of apartments that sounded three alarms, as reported by NBC.
Upon arrival in the area, they proceeded to rescue the affected tenants. Two of them are in critical condition and five members of the emergency services (EMS) have serious injuries. All of the injured have been transported to nearby hospitals.
It appears that a lithium-ion battery connected to a micro-mobility device may have caused the fire, since, according to the fire chief, it is a very recognizable factor because the room starts to flicker a few seconds after the fire breaks out.
Firefighters have counted up to 200 fires generated by this type of device in the city in the last year.
