One dead after fire at Trump Tower
A fire at Donald Trump's New York skyscraper has left one man dead and several firefighters injured.
Flames and thick black smoke were seen issuing from windows on the 50th floor of Trump Tower, where the president has a residence, in Manhattan yesterday evening.
Some 200 firefighters and members of the emergency services rushed to the scene on Fifth Avenue while the New York Police Department closed surrounding roads.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said an occupant of the apartment had died after the unit was "entirely" engulfed with flames. He was later named as 67-year-old Todd Brassner.
The blaze broke out shortly before 6pm local time (11pm Irish time), filling floors of the 58-storey building with a "considerable" amount of smoke.
Around 45 minutes later - before the fatality had been publicly announced - Mr Trump took to Twitter to praise firefighters for their response, saying they had extinguished the blaze.
The billionaire, who made his fortune in property, also attributed the construction of his eponymous tower to the fire's limited spread.
"Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well-built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!" he wrote on Twitter.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro later cautioned that the fire was not under control, due to the smoke in the floors above the blaze.
"We found fire on the 50th floor of the building. The apartment was entirely on fire. Members pushed in heroically, they were knocking down the fire and found one occupant of the apartment," he said in comments posted by the FDNY on Twitter.
"This was a very difficult fire. As you can imagine, the apartment is quite large, we are 50 stories up.
"The rest of the building had a considerable amount of smoke. 200 Firefighters and EMS (emergency medical services) members are on scene.
"We had many floors to search, and stairways."
During the incident, Mr Trump was in Washington DC, where he was seen at the luxury Trump International Hotel.
As well as his luxury residence, Trump Tower also contains offices of the Trump family business.
His son, Eric Trump, tweeted: "Thank you to the amazing men and women of the NYFD who extinguished a fire in a residential apartment at @TrumpTower. The @FDNY and @NYPD are truly some of the most incredible people anywhere!"
Opened in 1983, the mixed-use skyscraper is a jewel in The Trump Organisation's real estate portfolio that includes high-end properties, hotels and golf courses.
