Five dead, four injured in U.S. high-rise building fire

Five people were killed and four others injured as a result of a high-rise building fire in Minneapolis in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

The fire is under control, tweeted the Minneapolis Fire Department.

The blaze broke out early Wednesday on the 14th floor of the 24-story building in a neighborhood near the city's downtown, Fire Chief John Frutel told reporters during a briefing.

Firefighters also found heavy smoke on the 16th and 17th floors as residents were evacuated through the building's stairwells, according to the department's other tweets.

"Unfortunately, we've had five people deceased in the fire," Frutel said, adding that they were in different units on the 14th floor.

Three others "were quickly removed down the stairwell and put on a waiting elevator" and taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment, the chief said. Their conditions were unknown.

A firefighter was being examined for a minor injury, according to Frutel.

There was no indication of how the fire started.

Minneapolis is currently facing a winter storm warning as the region has been pummeled with snow as Thanksgiving nears

"(It was) a very tragic night at the beginning of a holiday weekend," Frutel said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)