At least 19 people, including nine children, were killed in a fire in a Bronx apartment building on Sunday. According to a US media, a city official who was not authorized to speak publicly described it one of the city’s worst fires in recent memory.

The fire started just before 11 am in a duplex apartment on the second and third floors of the building, on East 181st Street, according to the Fire Department.

Firefighters arrived within three minutes and encountered smoke that extended the entire height of the 19-story building, said the fire commissioner, Daniel A. Nigro.

He added that “the smoke conditions in this building were unprecedented,” and that victims had suffered from severe smoke inhalation.

Crews entering the building found victims “on every floor” and were taking them out in “cardiac and respiratory arrest,” he said.

“The numbers are horrific,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon, adding, “This is going to be one of the worst fires that we have witnessed during modern times.”

The commissioner of the New York City Fire Department said he expects "numerous fatalities" after identifying at least 63 people with varying levels of injuries from smoke and fire. At least 32 people were taken to at least five different hospitals in the borough with life-threatening injuries.