Indiana Apartment Fire Kills 4-Year-Old Twins and Two Adults

Feb. 3, 2004
A fire sparked by a short-circuit in a television cord raced through a second-floor apartment early Monday, killing a woman, her twin 4-year-old daughters and a family friend, authorities said.

LOWELL, Ind. (AP) -- A fire sparked by a short-circuit in a television cord raced through a second-floor apartment early Monday, killing a woman, her twin 4-year-old daughters and a family friend, authorities said.

Two people, including the twin girls' father, survived the fire, said Fire Chief Jack Eskridge.

The victims were identified as Delores A. Szot, 34, and her twin daughters, Tia P. Parker and Talia J. Parker. Family friend Jack D. Umfleet, 47, was rescued from the building but died later at a hospital, Eskridge said.

Lowell is located about 25 miles south of Gary.

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