New York apartment block fire kills 19

The door to the apartment where the fire started was left open, and smoke then spread to every floor, Commissioner Nigro told reporters.

“Members found victims on every floor in stairwells and were taking them out in cardiac and respiratory arrest,” he said.

George King, who lives nearby, told AFP news agency people were waving from the windows as the flames took hold.

“I saw the smoke, a lot of people were panicking,” he said. “You could see that no-one wanted to jump from the building.”

A total of 63 people suffered injuries, including the 32 taken to hospital. Thirteen are in a critical condition, Stefan Ringel, a senior adviser to the mayor, told AP news agency.

“The impact of this fire is going to bring a level of pain and despair to our city,” Mr Adams told reporters. “The numbers are horrific.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul called Sunday’s events “a night of tragedy”, and pledged to create a victims’ compensation fund to support survivors.

“There will be money to find new housing, burial costs and whatever we need because that’s what we do here in New York,” Ms Hochul said.

The area of the Bronx where the fire occurred is home to a large Muslim immigrant population and many of those affected by the blaze are believed to have originally come to the US from the Gambia.

Mr Adams urged anyone impacted by the fire to seek assistance from the authorities, irrespective of immigration status. He assured residents that their details would not be passed on to immigration services.

The building hosts a number of affordable housing apartments and the blaze is likely to raise questions over the quality of such units in the city.

Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democratic lawmaker whose district includes the building, told the US network MSNBC that developments such as the Bronx fire pose safety risks to residents.

“When we allow our affordable housing developments to be plagued by decades of disinvestment, we are putting lives at risk,” Mr Torres said.