Philadelphia: 7 Children Among 13 Killed In House Fire

In Philadelphia, United States, 13 people including 7 children died when a fire tore through a 3 story house on Wednesday.

The fire incident which occurred few blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Rodin Museum, was one of the deadliest in Philadelphia's history.

“This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way," the state's Mayor, Jim Kenney said.

Craig Murphy, Philadelphia Fire Department deputy commissioner also said that the fire was the worst he had seen in 35 years on the job.

He added that "eight people managed to escape from the burning house, while two others were rushed to the hospital."

“We’re in the process of investigating this to the highest level. It’s not necessarily considered suspicious but we have all hands on deck due to the magnitude of the fire. And there were four smoke detectors in the building but none operated at the time of the accident," he said.

It wasn’t clear how many people were in the building when the fire broke out but about 26 people had been living in the building.

According to Aljazeera, the burnt building is owned by the Philadelphia’s public housing authority.