LOS ANGELES -- A woman died Friday of third degree burns suffered in the disastrous Sunset Boulevard apartment house fire, raising to 22 the death toll in the second deadliest blaze in city history.
The latest victim was Josefina de la Torre, 30, who died at Brotman Memorial Hospital.
Her 6-year-old daughter, Elia, died Tuesday of burns at the same hospital, and six other members of the de la Torre family perished in the flames.
All the victims -- including 11 children -- were members of just four families. Most of the 200 residents of the apartment house on Sunset Boulevard near downtown came from the same small Mexican village, El Salitre.
Eighteen people died early Saturday when they were caught in the intense flames that flashed through two corridors of the aging apartment house. Fire officials said many of the victims panicked, fled the safety of their rooms and died in smoke-filled hallways.
Fire Department spokesman Steve Ventura said the weekend blaze was the second worst in the city's history. The Nov. 15, 1973 blaze at the Stratford Arms apartment hotel claimed 25 lives
The cause of the blaze has not been determined but fire officials said it apparently started in the building's first-floor utility room and spread to the hallways.