5 killed in Manhattan blaze, including 3 children

10/11/2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - New York City fire officials say five people including three children are dead after fire swept through a Manhattan apartment building.

Fire Department spokesman Frank Gribbon says a 10-year-old child is critically injured. Officials say the dead include a man and a woman and three children.

Fire officials say the blaze in a housing complex in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood started on the sixth floor early Saturday morning and was declared under control about 45 minutes later.

Firefighters worked quickly, shattering windows and extinguishing the flames within about an hour.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.