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Firefighters were called to the home around 12:30 a.m. and found the girls unresponsive and severely burned inside. They performed CPR, but the children were reported dead at the scene, authorities said.
Witnesses told investigators that the girls were playing with fire near a couch in a hallway on the home's second floor, where the blaze began and spread, authorities said.
Original: Two girls were killed in a Newark fire Saturday night, Oct. 19, a spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor's office confirmed.
The blaze broke out just before midnight in a two-story Eckert Avenue home.
The American Red Cross was assisting 15 people from seven different families displaced by the fire.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, the city's representative in Congress, said:
I am heartbroken to wake up this Sunday to the devastating news that two young children tragically lost their lives in a house fire early this morning in Newark. My thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones, and the selfless firefighters & first responders who were on scene.
This is a developing story. Check back for more.
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