CLEVELAND (AP) -- Police sought samples of genetic material from relatives on Monday so they could identify the final three victims among nine killed in a weekend house fire.
Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth K. Balraj said it would take several days to confirm the identities, apparently all children. The fire early Saturday also killed a woman and five other youngsters, most members of an extended family of siblings and cousins.
Because the fire destroyed items with DNA material that might be used for confirmations _ like hairbrushes or toothbrushes, Balraj said her office was using hair and other sources of DNA from presumed relatives to confirm the identities.
All nine died of smoke inhalation, according to autopsies done Saturday and Sunday. Balraj said she would rule whether the deaths were accidental when the fire department indicates how the fire started.
Fire Chief Paul Stubbs said the fire apparently was accidental, but no immediate cause was determined. Mayor Jane Campbell's office said Monday that no announcement was imminent. Investigators should finish their work this week, Stubbs said.
The two-story, 99-year-old home had smoke detectors but it wasn't clear whether they were working.
The blackened house was still cordoned off Monday and a police car stood vigil at a growing curbside memorial of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. The Red Cross said it would help with funeral expenses and a bank set up a burial fund.
The Red Cross made grief counselors available to family and neighbors. Schools where some of the victims attended also had counselors available on Monday.
Eleven people were in the home when the blaze started, Assistant Fire Chief Brent Collins said. Two people survived and one remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday in the MetroHealth Medical Center burn unit.
The neighborhood about three miles from downtown Cleveland contains older homes that are rented to lower-income families. Many of the houses have been refurbished, but a few are boarded up.
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