By Associated Press - Thursday, December 27, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) - Fire marshals are working to determine what caused a Queens apartment blaze that killed a teenage girl and seriously injured two women.

The fire was reported around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in an apartment on Merrick Boulevard. It’s in the St. Albans neighborhood, about three miles (5 km) from Kennedy Airport.

The fire department says 16-year-old Lamonies Smith and the two women were found on the third floor. The girl was pronounced dead at a hospital.



Police say it appears she was the daughter of one of the women, a 56-year-old who is now hospitalized in critical condition.

Investigators believe the other injured woman is a neighbor. She’s 76 and hospitalized in serious condition.

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