A fire early Friday destroyed a New Jersey shore motel that was housing people displaced by Superstorm Sandy, killing four people and injuring eight, authorities said, according to Reuters.
The blaze erupted at the wooden Mariner's Cove Motor Inn in this popular summer resort town at around 5:30 a.m., and flames were shooting out the building by the time firefighters arrived, Reuters reported. At least one person leaped from a second-floor window to escape.
Three people were injured critically, according to Reuters. Other injuries included broken bones.
The discovery of a fourth victim was announced Friday afternoon just before firefighters removed the body on a stretcher, Reuters reported. Authorities said all remaining occupants had been accounted for after hours of visiting hospitals, motels and other locations to track down other survivors.
The victims were identified as male adults, but the prosecutor's office said no positive identifications had been made and the cause of the blaze was unknown, according to Reuters.
The blaze was the second major fire at the Jersey shore in seven months, following a September blaze that destroyed about a third of the boardwalk in Seaside Heights and Seaside Park, Reuters reported. The boardwalk had just been rebuilt after Sandy. It is now being rebuilt, again.
Peter Kuch is the man who jumped out of the window after saying he smelled smoke and opened his door to find a lounge area engulfed in flames, according to Reuters. He dialed 911 to seek help, and by the time the call was completed, the flames were at his door and licking at the windows of his second-floor unit.
"I had to, there was no other way out," Kuch said, Reuters reported. "My window was only open an inch and flames were already starting to come through it. There just was no other choice."
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