Washington: At least five children, including four siblings, were killed in a fire that broke out at a daycare facility in Pennsylvania on Sunday (local time).
Four people were injured, including two teenagers who jumped from a second-floor window onto a porch of the facility in Erie to escape the blaze, Erie Fire Chief Guy Santone told CNN.
He said that the homeowner was injured, along with a neighbour who tried to enter the burning home to rescue the victims.
Eight people were at the facility when the fire broke out around 1:15 a.m. (local time), Santone said.
The children who died were between 8 months to roughly 8 years old, the fire chief said.
Four of the victims were siblings who were being cared for at the daycare, Santone said. Their siblings’ mother worked the night shift, he said.
The homeowner’s child was also killed, he said.
“The lady that lived there ran through the fire to get outside. She had burned her lungs and probably didn’t realise that,” Santone stated.
“And she drove herself to the hospital, and on the way to the hospital, she crashed her car,” he was quoted as saying.
Authorities said that the woman was flown to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for treatment.