5 Dead and 4 Injured in Fire at High-Rise Building in Minneapolis

Photo: David Joles/Star Tribune via AP

Firefighters responded to a devastating fire that killed five people early Wednesday morning in Minneapolis.

At around 4:30 a.m. local time, area rescue crews arrived to a high-rise apartment building where flames raged on the 14th floor, the Minneapolis Fire Department said viaTwitter.

Four people died in various units on the 14th floor during the fire and one other person died after being found in the hallway and taken to the hospital, Bryan Tyner, the department’s assistant chief of administration, told PEOPLE. Four more people were injured, including a firefighter, and taken to a hospital, Tyner said.

“A very tragic night at the beginning of a holiday weekend,” City Fire Chief John Fruetel said at a press conference, according to the Associated Press.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and the names of the deceased have not yet been announced, Tyner said.

By the time first responders made it to the scene, the fire had a “pretty good head start,” Fruetel said at the press conference, according to the AP.

“It had been burning for a while,” Fruetel said.

Per the fire department’stweets, crews had to rescue a resident on the 13th floor via the elevator since they couldn’t use the stairway, and a 21st-floor resident initially refused to evacuate, prompting first responders to “check if safe to shelter in place.”

Firefighters worked toevacuateresidents andventilatesmoke out of the floor above the 14th, where theyextinguishedthe source of the fire at about 5:30 a.m., according to AP.

source: people.com