NEW YORK – 12:15 p.m.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says a fire that killed seven children in Brooklyn is an "unbelievable tragedy."
The mayor visited the home on Saturday a few hours after the blaze took the lives of the children, ages 5 to 15. It also critically injured their mother and another child from the same Orthodox Jewish family.
The mayor and his fire commissioner went through the charred residence where the children were found dead on the second floor. Afterward, a somber de Blasio told reporters the loss was being felt by all New Yorkers.
Fire investigators believe a warming plate in the first-floor kitchen ignited the fire shortly after midnight. They say the mother and her teenage daughter survived by jumping from the second floor.
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9:00 a.m.
New York City's fire commissioner says a malfunctioning hot plate may have caused a fire that left seven children dead when it tore through a home in a heavily Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Commissioner Daniel Nigro (NY'-groh) says the deceased range in age from 5 to 15 years old. Nigro says a woman and teen who jumped from the second floor are hospitalized in critical condition.
Nigro says the woman is believed to be the mother of all eight children.
The fire broke out early Saturday at a single-family home in Midwood, a leafy section of Brooklyn known for its low crime and large Orthodox Jewish population.
Nigro says the hot plate was left on for the Sabbath. Many religious Jews do not use electricity on the Sabbath but leave appliances on so they may be used.
More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze and brought it under control at around 1:30 a.m., about an hour after it was reported.
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4:40 a.m.
Authorities say seven children are dead following a fire early Saturday morning at a Brooklyn residence.
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.
Firefighters received a call about the blaze at a private dwelling on the 3300 block of Bedford Avenue at 12:23 a.m. EDT 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.
No other details are available.
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