Six Killed in North Carolina Mobile Home Fire

July 9, 2003
Fire burned through a mobile home early Wednesday, killing six children and injuring six other people who were inside, authorities said.

MIDWAY PARK, N.C. (AP) -- Fire burned through a mobile home early Wednesday, killing six children and injuring six other people who were inside, authorities said.

A neighbor reported the fire about 1:15 a.m. in a mobile home park just outside Camp Lejeune. Authorities were trying to determine what started the blaze.

The children who died were ages 15, 14, 12, 2 months and 1 month, said authorities with Onslow County Emergency Management. The age of the sixth child wasn't immediately known, Fire Marshal Don Decker said.

``It's the worst we've ever had in Onslow County. It's the absolute worst. We call it catastrophic,'' Decker said.

The others hurt in the fire were taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital and the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune for treatment. Sheriff Ed Brown said two were airlifted to North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

The relationships of the children and the others injured were not immediately released.

The mobile home was about 100 miles southeast of Raleigh.

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