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Witnesses told detectives that there had been a birthday party for one of the girls on the second floor of the home and they'd been playing with fire near a couch in the hallway of the Eckert Street home on Saturday, Oct. 20, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.
Firefighters responding around 12:30 a.m. found the girls unresponsive and severely burned inside. They performed CPR, but the children were reported dead at the scene, authorities said.
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.
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