NEW YORK CITY, NY – On Tuesday, just past midnight, New York City Police Department officers responded to a 911 call reporting a fire at a mixed-use commercial and residential building located at 80 Madison Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown district. New York Fire Department personnel successfully extinguished the fire, but not without grave consequences.
Six individuals were assisted at the scene and transported to area hospitals, but four of those people have since been pronounced deceased.
Two victims remain in critical condition, a 65-year-old female and an 80-year-old male, both at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
New York City officials said a faulty lithium battery sparked the fire.
“We have been sounding the alarm about lithium-ion batteries for months, and we still have more work to do to protect New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said after the fire.