Brooklyn Fire Kills Seven Children of Orthodox Jewish

An Orthodox Jewish family were struck by an unexpected fire at their Brooklyn two-story home early Saturday morning which which killed seven children who were sleeping upstairs, according to reports.

The four boys and three girls, siblings ranging in age from 5 to 15, were in upstairs bedrooms when the fire swept up from the first floor shortly after midnight in Brooklyn's south-central Midwood section, New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said according to Fox Now News.

The blaze, which erupted just before 12:30 a.m. (0430 GMT), appeared to have been started accidentally by a hot plate, which are used by many Orthodox families to warm food on the Sabbath, said Nigro.

It was the highest death toll in a fire in the city in seven years, Nigro said.

"This is an unbelievable tragedy," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters after seeing the devastation at the site of the blaze. "Every New Yorker is feeling this pain right now."

The only survivors was the 45-year-old mother and a daughter who escaped the blaze. They were taken to a local hospital and were in critical condition, New York Fire Department spokesman Michael Parrella said according to the Daily Mail.

More than 100 firefighters went to the house in the snowy neighborhood, located about three blocks south of Brooklyn College, after the fire was reported at 12:23 a.m., NY1 reported.

Firefighters found no evidence of smoke detectors in the first and second floors, according to Nigro.