- At least 38 people have been injured during the fire, caused by an ion battery.
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| A woman survives hanging from the window of a 20th floor in a serious fire in New York |
A woman survives hanging from the window of a 20th floor in a serious fire in New York
A woman has hung from the window of her home on the 20th floor during a fire in an apartment building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York (USA), in which at least 38 people have been injured, according to local firefighters reported.
Witnesses to the event collected images of the dense smoke coming out of one of the apartments in building number 429 on 52nd Street, in Manhattan, as well as the cumbersome rescue of the woman and another person inside the apartment. by means of a rope attached to the roof of the building, as detailed on CBS.
The Fire Department has detailed that they received a call shortly after 10:00 local time (4:00 p.m. in Spain), due to a fire unleashed on the twentieth floor of the block of flats that set off three alarms, according to NBC.
Upon arrival in the area, they proceeded to rescue the affected tenants. Two of them are in critical condition and five members of the emergency services (EMS) have serious injuries. All the injured have been taken to nearby hospitals.
Apparently, a lithium-ion battery connected to a micro-mobility device would have caused the fire, since, as detailed by the Fire Chief, it is a very recognizable factor because the room begins to flicker a few seconds after the fire breaks out .
Fire Chief Daniel E. Flynn explained that the fire started from a battery of this type of electric bicycle in one of the apartments, adding that there were several devices of this type on the same floor since the resident of the house was dedicated to fixing them. The body has launched an investigation to determine if his business was legal.
Firefighters have counted up to 200 fires generated by this type of device in the city in the last year. The authorities have warned on numerous occasions about the dangers of these batteries and have launched campaigns to raise public awareness.
Last September, the New York Prosecutor's Office began distributing information brochures in several languages with recommendations for charging, storage, and maintenance after four deaths and 79 injuries were recorded in 2021 due to fires caused by these batteries.
The prosecutor's office then warned that the batteries of the electric bicycles used by thousands of home delivery men, being lithium-ion and having a greater energy storage capacity, "are more likely to catch fire than a traditional battery".
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