Indian-origin woman, grandparents killed in New York fire

New York: An Indian-origin woman and her grandparents died and her two children were injured after a fast-moving blaze swept through their home in the US as they celebrated a relative’s upcoming wedding, a media report said.

Harleen Maggo and her paternal grandparents Ragvir Kaur-Kainth, 82 and Pyara Kainth 87, died in the tragic incident late Saturday.

Maggo’s two children, an 8-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy, were trapped inside the building as it burnt.

Firefighters rescued both of them, the girl was in critical condition and the boy was in stable condition at Nassau University Medical Centre, fire officials said.

Seven other people inside the home were taken to local hospitals with serious but not life threatening injuries, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Deputy Chief Michael Gala said in the report.

A relative Ranjit Kaur, 38, said she heard screams of people still trapped in the house.

“It’s a big tragedy,” Kaur said. “I’ve never seen a big fire like this.”

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the blaze and are still unsure where it started.

Maggo was staying over with her grandparents as part of a family gathering to celebrate a cousin’s upcoming marriage, neighbours said.

Maggo’s brother Param Singh told reporters at the scene that she had originally made it out of the home but went back inside with her uncle to try to save her grandparents.

“You never think about this,” he said. “You never think this will happen to you.”

Gala commended the firefighters for “putting their lives in harm’s way” to rescue the people and expressed sadness at the lives lost.

“These homes have too much wood and they catch fire and they spread,”said state Assemblyman David Weprin, who visited the scene in his district.

“A lot of these homes don’t have smoke alarms,” he added.

“We need to educate people about that. It’s a real tragedy,” he said.