Elderly couple, 85 and 89, killed when their luxury Manhattan building apartment bursts into flames in the early morning
- The fire started in the elderly couple’s luxury apartment at about 5am Saturday
- The wife, 85, was found unresponsive and declared dead on the scene
- Her husband, 89, was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries
- Authorities said the apartment’s approximately 12 rooms were filled with smoke
- Video from the incident reveals fire shooting out of the apartment’s windows
- Three firefighters received minor injuries and were hospitalized
An elderly couple died after a fire erupted on their floor at a New York City luxury co-op building early Saturday morning.
Authorities said the fire started at about 5am Saturday on the ninth floor at the River House, an East Side co-op famous for having housed celebs including Uma Thurman and Henry Kissinger and allegedly rejecting Diane Keaton, Richard Nixon and Joan Crawford among others.
Video captured of the fire reveals flames lighting up the night sky as they burst from two windows.
An elderly couple was killed when a fire broke out at their ninth-floor apartment in Manhattan’s River House, a luxury co-op building, at about 5am, according to authorities
Police said an 85-year-old woman was found unresponsive with severe burns and was declared dead at the scene, while her 89-year-old husband was rushed to the hospital where he was later died from his injuries, according to NBC New York.
Neither victim has been named yet.
The fire was said to have filled the couple’s dozen or so rooms with smoke, but been contained within the apartment’s walls.
‘You have a fire on the upper floor and a building off the river, and the windows are already out, so you have plenty of wind and air adding fuel to the fire,’ FDNY Deputy Chief James Coyne said while describing the blaze, according to ABC 7.
The fire appeared to be contained within the elderly couple’s apartment which had between 10 to 12 rooms in it, all of which were said to have been filled with smoke
Manhattan’s River House, a luxury co-op building that is popular with celebrities
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire at the Art Deco building.
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries received while putting out the blaze.
The palatial River House complex was built in 1931, with a 26-story tower and two 15-story wings. Current prices for apartments range from about $3million to $14million, according to the Street Easy real estate database.