MIAMI (WSVN) - Three children have died after a mid-morning fire that broke out in Miami home trapped them inside.
The incident occurred at a house located in the area of Northwest 18th Terrace and 36th Avenue, at around 11:45 a.m., Monday.
City of Miami Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene and transported four children to the hospital, but officials said only one of them would survive.
Before firefighters arrived, area residents said they heard a loud noise, followed by screaming.
“I heard a big boom,” said area resident Melanie Briceno.
“You could hear screaming for help,” said neighbor Yusimi Acosta.
“She screamed it, like, ‘The children, the children!'” said another neighbor.
Neighbors said they saw a young woman outside the home frantically calling for help.
“She was hysterically crying,” said Acosta.
Witnesses said a man who was there went inside the burning home searching for the children.
“He tried to get in, but it was too much smoke,” said Briceno.
“He couldn’t see. He felt that he couldn’t even open his eyes or breathe, so he had to step back,” said Acosta. “He actually was crying when he came back outside because he couldn’t get to the kids.”
Minutes later, City of Miami Fire Rescue crews took over.
“As firefighters made their way inside trying to locate this fire, they started searching the home, where they found four children inside,” said Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll.
They performed CPR on some of the children, and then transported them to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
“We do know that our firefighters did everything they could to try to revive these kids,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega, “and it’s something tragic that we have confirmed that three of the four kids have passed away.”
Officials said the ages of the children who were killed range between 1 and 12 years old.
The surviving child remains at the hospital.
Back at the home, the investigation into what caused the blaze lasted well into the evening.
Paramedics also transported two women to the hospital for treatment, and a firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there is no word on how the fire started.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.