Fifth Jamaican injured in Bronx apartment fire dies

Jamaican Holt Francis, who was critically injured in an apartment fire in Bronx, New York, last month, has died.

The New York police say the 27-year-old father succumbed to his injuries yesterday in hospital.

Francis’ wife, their two young daughters and a niece, were killed in the fire.

Eight adults and five children died in the December 28 fire.

The fire department said the blaze was caused by a three-year-old boy playing with a stove.

They reported that the boy's mother was alerted to the fire by the boy screaming.

She escaped the apartment with her children but left the front door open.

The fire department said this caused the fire to spread to the rest of the building very quickly by travelling up the stairs.

The stairway acted like a chimney and people in the rest of the building had very little time to react.