Seven Children Die in Brooklyn Fire

A malfunctioning hot plate sparked a fire early Saturday that killed seven children from the same family in a Brooklyn neighborhood, according to police. The children, all aged 5 to 15, were sleeping on the second floor of a single-family house in Midwood. The mother was able to jump out a front window while a daughter, 15, escaped through a side window. The other seven children, however, all died. “This is the largest tragedy by fire that this city has had in seven years,” fire commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said. “It’s a tragedy for this family, it’s a tragedy for this community, it’s a tragedy for the city.”