Two died and four were injured in a deadly apartment fire in Brooklyn early Wednesday.
A father and his elderly mother perished in the fire that ripped through their first-floor apartment on E. 15th St. in the neighborhood of Midwood at 3:30 a.m., The New York Daily News reports.
Four other family members—including a woman who smashed through the back door carrying her infant son—were able to escape the fire, which took more than 100 firefighters to extinguish.
A resident said that the man, 63, most likely died while trying to save his 91-year-old mother, who had trouble walking and seeing. The fire was apparently started by a space heater.
Residents identified the man as Charlie Sejour, a cab driver and longtime resident.
The survivors of the blaze stood outside, yelling for someone to rescue the father and his mother.
"The [deceased man's] wife was running down the street screaming, 'Help! Help! My house is burning, my family's inside!'" said neighbor Intazar Dar, 55.
Another neighbor, Matthew Lucenti, described the mother and child's narrow escape from the growing flames. "She was screaming, she was hysterical, she just wanted to get the baby out," said Lucenti. "She broke down the door into the backyard, handed the baby to my dad and climbed the fence [into their backyard].
"Her legs were bleeding ... She was hysterical, she knew her family was still in there," Lucenti said. "There was fire coming out of the side windows and it spread onto the car."
The firefighters found the elderly woman dead inside the home, and her son was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
The four survivors were treated at Maimonides Medical Center for minor injuries.
"I think he was going back for his mom," said neighbor Tahir Wasim, 28, a fellow cab driver. "He wouldn't want to leave without his mom."
A relative said that Sejour lived in the home with his mother, his wife, their two daughters, one son and a grandchild.
"That's my family, they've been living there for a long time, over 20 years," said the relative, who did not give his name. "My grandmother was in there. My uncle was in there."