A pregnant woman and her nephew died Friday afternoon after a southwest Houston apartment caught fire, KPRC Local 2 reported.
The blaze started in a second-floor unit at a complex on Club Creek Drive near Greenfork Drive at about 11:15 a.m.
Firefighters found the woman, 5-year-old boy and his 3-year-old brother in a bathroom at the back of the apartment where heavy smoke and flames were rising from the roof. The fire was contained to the living room, but the victims were trapped.
"It appeared that the fire was between them and the door. It was in the living room. They were in the back part of the apartment. The bathroom was where they were found. The captain told me the water was running, so it appeared they were in there trying to do what they could getting away from the fire," HFD District Chief Tommy Dowdy said.
A neighbor tried to save the family.
"When I knocked down the door, I was overcome by smoke. I couldn't go inside," Angel Barbarda said.
Paramedics performed CPR on the three victims before loading them into ambulances.
They were taken to Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the woman and 5-year-old died a short time later. The condition of the 3-year-old was not released.
A family friend told KPRC Local 2 that the woman was baby-sitting her nephews while the boys' mother was at work.
The woman was nine months pregnant. Neighbors said the family had lived at the complex for less than a month.
"This is a very, very tragic thing to see -- for anybody to see," neighbor Shawn Jacobs said.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The victims' names were not released.
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