One killed, five injured in NYC apartment blaze
NEW YORK (Reuters) - One person was killed and five were injured in a New York apartment fire on Monday that forced some occupants to jump from a burning three-story building, fire officials said.
The blaze broke out at about 1:45 a.m. at the Brooklyn structure and was extinguished a half-hour later, a spokesman for the New York City Fire Department said.
In an attempt to save residents trapped in the building, a tenant pulled a mattress from his apartment onto the nearby sidewalk to break the falls of jumping residents, the spokesman said.
Local media reported people jumping from the third floor, where images of the scene showed charred windows.
At least two people leapt from the building, said the fire department spokesman, who did not know what floor they were on. It was not immediately clear what had caused the fatality.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Eric Walsh)
