Four children were killed, dozens of people were displaced and several homes have been destroyed after a fire broke out in Southwest Philadelphia overnight.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the three-alarm fire started early Saturday on the porch of one row home and quickly spread to eight other homes, engulfing them in flames.
CBSPhilly reported that Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said that firefighters responded to a call around 2:45 a.m. and found that the blaze had already spread.
The four victims who perished in the fire have been identified as 4-year-old twin sisters Maria and Marialla Bowah, Patrick Sanyeah, 4, and one-month-old Taj Jacque.
Police said Dewen Bowah was in the home with the children when the fire broke out. The 41-year-old was able to get some of the children out before jumping from a second-story window. She told a neighbor that four other children were still trapped inside, but at that point no one could get back into the house to save them.
The Red Cross said that in all 42 residents have been displaced. Fire officials are continuing to investigate the incident.
"This is a tragic, tragic day for the city of Philadelphia," Sawyer said.