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A firefighter looks out from the window of the damaged apartment in Trump Tower. Photo: AP

Man killed in fire at New York’s Trump Tower as US president boasts about his ‘well-built building’

The skyscraper was the primary residence of Donald Trump before he was elected president in 2016

Donald Trump
Agencies

An elderly man died after a blaze erupted on the 50th floor of Trump Tower in New York which also injured four firefighters, officials said.

The New York Police Department said the 67-year-old man was found “unconscious and unresponsive” when officers arrived at the scene of the fire.

The man was pronounced dead after being taken to Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital, according to police, which said the medical examiner’s office would determine the cause of death as part of an ongoing investigation.

Damaged windows are seen after a fire broke out in an apartment in Trump Tower. Photo: Reuters
Smoke rises up from Trump Tower in New York. Photo: Reuters

“This was a very difficult fire. As you can imagine, the apartment is quite large, we are 50 storeys up. The rest of the building had a considerable amount of smoke,” the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said.

It said the four firefighters had “non-life threatening” injuries and that the blaze had been brought “under control.”

Fire trucks arrive outside Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York on April 7, 2018 during a fire on the 50th floor of the building owned by US President Donmald Trump. / AFP PHOTO / Laura BONILLA CAL

Smoke began rising from the skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan around 6:00pm (2200 GMT) Saturday.

Streets surrounding the building owned by US President Donald Trump that serves as the headquarters for The Trump Organisation and houses the president’s penthouse were closed off as tourists snapped pictures on their phones.

The FDNY earlier tweeted a picture of the building with several windows of the 50th floor ablaze.

Trump later said the fire had been extinguished.

“Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firefighters (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!” he said.

In January, three people were injured in an early-morning fire at the top of Trump Tower. One firefighter was hospitalised while two people received minor injuries that were treated at the scene, the New York Fire Department said.

Agence France-Presse, Reuters

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Elderly man dies in Trump Tower fire
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