ROME (AP) -- Pope Francis offered his condolences Monday to the victims of the “devastating” apartment fire in the Bronx that killed 19 people, nine of them children, on Sunday.
“His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the recent devastating fire in the Bronx in which a number of children lost their lives,” Francis said in a telegram to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who heads the Archdiocese of New York.
The telegram was signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“In offering heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to those affected by this tragedy, he entrusts the victims and their families to the merciful love of Almighty God and invokes upon all consolation and strength in the Lord,” the pope said.
The blaze, which also injured dozens of people, was the deadliest in New York City in three decades. Mayor Eric Adams said 13 people remained in critical condition on Monday.
Investigators said a malfunctioning electric space heater, plugged in to give extra heat on a cold morning, started the fire in the 19-story building. An open door allowed smoke to escape the apartment where the fire started and travel to multiple floors of the building, trapping fleeing residents in hallways and stairwells, officials said.
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