Three die in New York fire

NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- Three people died and eight were injured in a house fire in New York that was battled by more than 100 firefighters, authorities said.

Fire officials said the victims of the early Monday fire in the Tremont section of the Bronx were a 36-year-old man, a 40-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy, the New York Post reported.

Local residents said the three victims were a family of immigrants from Mexico.

Four other people inside the three-story house and four firefighters suffered minor injuries, the newspaper said.

"There were heavy fire conditions on both the second and third floors of a three-story brownstone. When we arrived, numerous people on the street were screaming," FDNY Assistant Deputy Chief James Leonard told the New York Daily News.

Neighbors said they believed the building had gone into foreclosure at least a year ago, and squatters had moved into the building.

"It's been like that for a year. The place went into foreclosure and people kept going in there," neighbor Mike Lopez said. "There's been 10 different families that moved in and out of there, easily."