"Our units arrived and were immediately faced with heavy fire. Numerous people were brought out of the building by the firefighters on scene. We have 16 people; seven adults and nine children, all with non life-threatening injuries," said New York City fire chief Daniel Nigro.
"They’ve all been transported, and they will all be ok, thankfully," he said.
Barely four minutes after the emergency call, around 200 firefighters arrived in three dozen vehicles at 5:30 am (1030 GMT) at a three-floor, red-brick building close to the Bronx Zoo.
