9 children, 4 adults hurt in Bronx building fire

Thirteen people, including nine children, were hurt in a raging fire at a Bronx building, which parents said houses a day care.

It happened just before 3 p.m. Tuesday on Kingsbridge Avenue between West 234th and 236th streets.

Children rescued from day care

According to the FDNY, the fire started on the third floor of the building, then quickly spread to the fourth and the fifth floors.

Parents and tenants told CBS News New York a day care with well over a dozen children is located on the upper floors of the building and had to be rescued by the FDNY.  

A total of four adults and nine children suffered minor injuries, officials said.

The children from the day care were taken to a thrift store across the street to wait for their parents to pick them up.

"The parents came. They were traumatized," thrift store manager Abdulai Bah said. "Every parent just came in [asking], 'Where's my child? Where's my child?'"

Tyquan Slater told CBS News New York his 6-year-old daughter was among those taken to a local hospital. He said the situation was frightening, but he called ahead and was told his daughter was going to be OK.

"It had me shook up, man, but when I heard that everything was good, when I was able to speak to somebody, it gave me clarity," he said. "When you're not speaking to nobody, that's what makes things worry, but I spoke to somebody, but I had to get my other daughter from school, and as for the situation, I hope that it clears up."

"It's so sad"

Video shows flames shooting out of the building as smoke filled the sky, along with a person who appeared to be trapped inside the building leaning out a window, waving a sheet to signal for help.

Witnesses said some people were trapped in their units, banging on windows and doors. The FDNY had to make several rescues.

"It's so sad. I started tearing [up] a little bit, you know? It's sad to see the kids and they can't breathe," witness Sara Lopez said, "and then I see people in the window going like this, banging, and I'm pointing to the firemen, and they're always in there anyway, you know, but thank God everything is OK."

Some tenants were able to self-evacuate.

"The fire department was in the hallway. You could smell the smoke in the living room," tenant Raphael Estrella said.

After the flames were extinguished, some residents returned to their apartments to find a wet mess with water pouring from the ceiling.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.