A man is dead and a woman was seriously injured following an early morning fire in Toronto’s Little India neighbourhood.
Toronto fire officials were called to a residential building in the Gerrard Street East and Glenside Avenue area just after midnight Sunday morning for reports of a fire.
Two people were trapped in a fourth-floor unit when the fire broke out, and authorities say some residents attempted to save the occupants, but were unsuccessful.
Paul O’Brien, Division Commander for Toronto Fire Services, told reporters on Sunday that one man in his 70s was rescued without vital signs. He was brought to the lobby of the building and later pronounced dead.
The second occupant of the unit – a woman believed to be in her 60s – was also rescued and is being treated for burns at Sunnybrook Hospital.
O’Brien says a third person also sustained minor injuries while escaping the fire and is being treated at a hospital.
According to fire officials, the blaze was contained to a single unit and no other units were damaged.
The Office of the Fire Marshal has been called in to determine the origin and cause of the blaze.