At least six people, including a child, are missing after a house fire in southeastern Pennsylvania that left two police officers dead Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
At 3:47 p.m., officers responded to a report of an 11-year-old girl shot at a home in East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said at a news conference. of Philadelphia.
Two officers were shot shortly after police arrived at the home, Stollsteimer said. It is unclear who fired the shots at the officers, but the officers were expected to be “perfectly fine,” the district attorney said.
The house burst into flames a short time later, Stollsteimer said, adding that the cause of the fire was unknown. He said authorities are concerned there may be someone inside the home. According to Stollsteimer, between six and eight people are missing.
“Our terrible fear is that they were inside when the house burned,” he said. “We hope that's not true.”
Stollsteimer said police officers and firefighters will not be able to enter the home until the fire is completely extinguished and will have to wait until morning to see if anyone was inside the home at the time of the fire. He said it was highly likely.
“The fire is still burning,” he said Wednesday night. “It's smoldering at the moment, but it's still dangerous to go inside.” He added: “At the moment it's just burnt out and empty.”
Stollsteimer said officials hoped the fire would be completely extinguished by morning, allowing workers to begin “excavation” work.
“We'll have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “It's a terrible job.”
Stollsteimer did not elaborate on the injuries sustained by the officers. He visited police officers at the hospital Wednesday night and they said he was “doing well.”
“They gave us the thumbs up,” he said. “Those people will be fine.”
