At least two people died and three were hurt in a massive blaze that engulfed a multi-family home in Worcester early Saturday morning, fire officials said.
The building was a total loss, and structural integrity issues kept firefighters from finishing a search of all three floors of the building, which had six units and was occupied at the time of the fire, the Worcester Fire Department said.
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"I send my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims," Mayor Joseph Petty said in a statement. "Tragedies such as this affect so many lives and our city will no doubt come together to support those who are suffering from such an unimaginable loss."
The fire broke out at a building on Gage Street in the Bingham Square Apartments about 3:30 a.m., the department said. Crews arriving there found the entire building in flames.
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Three other people were injured and taken to the hospital. No further details on the victims or the severity of the survivors' injuries were immediately available.
The Red Cross was helping families displaced by the blaze.
It took over two hours for crews, of nearly 70 firefighters in all, to get the fire under control. No firefighters were injured, authorities said.
The original building was completely destroyed by the flames. The fire also damaged two neighboring buildings on Eastern Avenue and Gage Street, officials said, but investigators were still determining how badly they were affected.
The cause of fire remains under investigation.
