A father is grieving over his two children after they died from a blast when a radiator exploded below their apartment. The space below them is said to be a homeless shelter.
NT News reported that the siblings were sleeping when the incident took place. The valve of the radiator was said to have blown off and filled the bedroom of the girls with red-hot steam.
The father, Peter Ambrose, told reporters that what happened to the girls is not fair, noting that his children are the most beautiful babies in the world. His kids are aged one and two. He added, "The steam killed my babies. It was New York public housing."
The children were identified as 1-year-old Scylee and 2-year-old Ibanez. The father of the two kids was sleeping in another bedroom and when their mother, Danielle Ambrose, came home, she discovered the room filled with steam.
The parents ran out to the street screaming while holding their kids in their arms. Firefighters performed CPR on the two kids before being taken to Lincoln Medical Centre. They were declared dead at the hospital.
The two kids suffered severe burns, as per New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long. The burns were caused by the steam that leaked from the radiator from the first-floor apartment.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement before that they will permanently end the failed cluster site shelter program within three years in order to have safer housings, New York Daily News reported. As for the deaths of the two girls, de Blasio said in a statement that the city is mourning the loss of the two young children but did not offer any comment regarding the homeless shelter safety issue.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks said that they are devastated by the tragedy and they are investigating the matter. They will also be taking steps to immediately transfer the four families living in the homeless shelter below the apartment of the family.
