Official: 2 firefighters killed in Buffalo fire

8/24/2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUFFALO, N.Y. Officials in Buffalo, N.Y., say two firefighters have been killed after the first floor of a burning convenience store collapsed into the basement.

The Rev. Derren Young, chaplain at the Erie County Medical Center, says the firefighters bodies were recovered Monday morning and will be taken to the hospital. A police spokesman says authorities still can t confirm reports of a third person missing in the basement of the two-story building.

Firefighters lined up and took off their helmets, some saluting, as gurneys carrying the bodies were brought out. Weeping and distraught people gathered across the street and were escorted from the scene.

There is no immediate information on a possible cause of the fire and the firefighters names have not been released.