A man is dead and at least four other people have been injured in a raging fire that erupted at a six-story apartment building in Brooklyn on Thursday night, officials say.
About 60 firefighters assisted in battling the blaze, which broke out on Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights shortly after 10 p.m. Police said once the fire was put out, a 56-year-old man was discovered unresponsive and unconscious with burns all over his body.
The man, identified as Rupert Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the NYPD.
The four people who were hurt were taken to an area hospital, all suffering from non-life threatening injuries, according to firefighters.
One woman said intense smoke filled the building, making her escape more difficult.
"We had to come from the fire escape and make our own way down," Shatoya Killings said.
It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the blaze, but an investigation is underway.
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A medical examiner will determine Smith's exact cause of death.
On Thursday morning, a separate fire killed an elderly woman who was trapped inside her locked room and hurt another woman.
