Devastating NYC Fire Kills 8 Children, 1 Adult

March 8, 2007 — -- Authorities are calling a residential fire in the Bronx that killed nine people, eight of them children, one of New York City's worst blazes in recent memory.

The blaze began shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday and burned through the basement and lower floors of the three-story home. About 17 children were believed to be living in the building, which was home to four families. Screams of "Help me" could be heard echoing from the building.

Witnesses say a wall of smoke engulfed the house, creating a virtual inferno.

"The flames burst out, flames from the front, to the back, you could hear people screaming, crying -- it was horrible," one witness said.

Another person who helped rescue some of the people inside the home said one woman was dropping children from the upper floors.

"A lot of flames, smoke, couldn't see nothing. … The baby just dropped right into my arms," the man said.

A relative of some of the residents, who lives across the street from the burned house, said most of the four families living in the building were immigrants from the West African nation of Mali.

It's not unusual for African immigrants to live in large family groups to establish a support structure, and this type of disaster has happened before.

In 2005, two fires in Paris residences killed at least 33 people. Most of them were from Mali and Senegal.

Fires have claimed the lives of many people this year. In the first six weeks of 2007, 88 people were killed around the country in multiple fatality fires, and 60 percent of those deaths were children.

An investigation will begin later today to try to determine the cause of the Bronx blaze.