7 people hospitalized after fire in Chicago high-rise building

CHICAGO (AP) — Seven people were hospitalized, including a baby in critical condition, after a fire Wednesday afternoon in a Chicago high-rise building, fire officials said.

Seven people, including the baby, were rushed to area hospitals, Chicago Fire Department First District Chief Jim McDonough said at a news conference.

Four other children were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good and fair conditions, fire officials said.

One person jumped from a fourth-floor window and was hospitalized in fair condition, officials said. A seventh person was taken to Trinity Hospital in good condition.

Firefighters also performed ladder rescues on the outside of the building while people hung out of windows.

Firefighters were called just before 4 p.m. to the blaze in a 1920s-era high-rise in the South Shore neighborhood. The fire started in a kitchen in a unit on the second floor of the 14-story building, McDonough said.

There was heavy smoke from the second floor on up, McDonough said.