Teenage brothers slide down a pipe to escape a burning apartment, horrific footage goes viral

Team Udayavani, Dec 19, 2021, 11:38 AM IST

A spectator filmed a startling video of two teenagers slipping down a conduit to escape their burning apartment in a 14-story New York City building.

Justin Malpica’s video shows smoke spewing out of the fourth-floor window of the Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village as two siblings make a last-ditch effort to save their lives. The tragedy occurred on Thursday, according to sources, and their mother was gravely hurt.

The clip shows an 18-year-old girl in all black climbing out of a shattered window before dangling from a window sill.

She then managed to clutch a narrow yellow pipe that was attached to the building. The teenager’s 13-year-old brother was the next to emerge from the smoke-engulfed window, as onlookers gasped in terror. Before his sister drags him to his side, he can be seen swinging his legs to reach the pipe.

The clip goes on to show the siblings sliding down the pipe as flames shot out of their apartment window.

Yesterday morning 2 teens—a 13 and 18-yr-old— escaped a burning building in East Village, NYC. In the video you can see the first teen hanging from the window then stand up and hold on to a pole and help the second person.
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pic.twitter.com/xzHP5QqM2I

— GoodNewsCorrespondent (@GoodNewsCorres1) December 17, 2021

After receiving an emergency call, firefighters arrived at the scene in under four minutes. According to a DailyMail report, the twins conducted the plunge themselves and were able to reach the ground safely in 25-30 seconds.

Paramedics assessed the siblings on the spot and then took them to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell for additional treatment. They were said to be in stable health, but their 46-year-old mother was said to be in critical condition.

While fleeing the apartment, the mother sustained burn injuries.

An adult man’s body was later recovered inside the residence.

Although the origin of the incident is still under investigation, fire officials believe that electric bikes in the flat played a role.

After hearing the mother cry, a neighbour stated she tried to assist the family.

We attempted to break down the door. The mother was unable to open the door. “She was yelling, ‘I can’t get it open,'” Mitchell, the next-door neighbour, said.