At least 19 people have lost their lives while dozens sustained injuries after a fire tore through a high-rise apartment building in the New York borough of the Bronx, according to Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday.

US media reported that several children were among those who died.

“We know that we have 19 people who are confirmed dead, as well as several others in critical condition,” Adams, who has been mayor for barely over a week, told CNN. He added that there 63 people who had been injured.

“This is going to be one of the worst fires in our history,” he said.

The injured were taken to five hospitals; many suffered from cardiac and respiratory arrest, the New York Times reported.

The incident comes just four days after a fire in Philadelphia killed 12 people, eight children inclusive, in a three-story public housing building in what seemed to be one of the deadliest recent fires in the United States.

In New York, there were fears of a growing toll.

“The last time we had a loss of life that may be this horrific was a fire which was over 30 years ago, also here in the Bronx,” said Fire Marshal Dan Nigro, quoted by NBC News.

At least 200 firefighters responded to the blaze, which started mid-morning on the second and third floors of a 19-story building on East 181st Street, several blocks west of the Bronx Zoo.

Flames speedily engulfed much of the structure, and Nigro said the smoke was so dense as to be “unprecedented.”

Flames and thick black smoke could be seen in photographs and videos posted on social media. They were billowing out of a third-story window of the brick building as firefighters operated on a nearby ladder.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

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