EAST ST. LOUIS – Five children, ages 2 to 9 years old, died after an early morning fire in East St. Louis on Friday morning. Fire crews were dispatched to the apartment building on fire and found two children deceased inside a bedroom and three other youth were reported unconscious on the kitchen floor, fire officials said. Two were pronounced dead once they were removed and taken outside and another died at the hospital.
The fire started at 3:45 a.m. Friday and occurred in the 500 block of 29th Street. Fire crews were called to the building in East St. Louis before 3 a.m. and reported finding two children already dead inside a bedroom.
The children have been identified as Deontay Davis, Jr., 9, twins Heaven and Nevaeh, 8, Jabari Johnson, 4, and Loyal Dunigan, 2.
No exact cause of the fire has been released by fire investigators.
The children’s mother had gone to pick up another person from work, the East St. Louis Fire Department said. She attempted to get into the apartment to rescue the children but was unsuccessful.
A vigil was held Friday night in East St. Louis for the children. The vigil was well attended by family, friends, and total strangers.
