2 Dead In Harlem Apartment Fire; 10 Injured, Including Children

HARLEM, NY — A new mother and an elderly man were killed when a fire tore through a Harlem apartment building early Friday, injuring several others including a young girl, authorities said.

The fire broke out around 1:38 a.m. in a third-floor apartment at 1833 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard — a five-story building near West 112th Street.

More than 100 firefighters worked for an hour and a half to contain the blaze, though their efforts were made more difficult "by a heavy clutter condition," an FDNY spokesperson said.

Two people were pronounced dead within hours: an 81-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, who police later identified as Adianatou-Nene Korouma. Korouma lived in a fourth-floor apartment with her four-year-old daughter and three-week old son, CBS2 reported.

Korouma's daughter was hospitalized from smoke inhalation, and was in cardiac arrest when firefighters rescued her from the building. They managed to revive her and she is now in stable condition, along with her baby brother, according to NBC.

FDNY Fire Marshals are currently investigating this morning’s fatal 2-alarm fire at 1833 7th Avenue in Manhattan, where two civilians were killed. Fire Marshals have confirmed that the door to the fire apartment was left open. pic.twitter.com/Ai28l9prdD
— FDNY (@FDNY) November 19, 2021

The man's name was being withheld pending family notification, but neighbors told CBS he was "a sweet man," adding that he taught music at Juilliard.

Others injured included a 56-year-old woman and a 44-year-old woman, who were in stable condition Friday morning, authorities said. All the injuries were from smoke inhalation, Nigro said.

Some residents used fire escapes to climb out of the building, according to ABC7, and the entire building was evacuated.

Authorities are continuing to investigate what caused the fire, but Nigro told reporters that arson has been ruled out. The door to the apartment where the fire broke out was left open, causing smoke to fill the building's upper floors, he said.