Brooklyn Family Killed in Shabbat Fire

A Brooklyn family in Midwood was destroyed when a fire ripped through their home early Saturday morning.

The fire was described as the deadliest fire in New York City in eight years.

As the family slept, a fire began the kitchen, apparently from a malfunctioning "blech", an electric hot plate.

As Orthodox Jews do not cook on Shabbat, various other solutions are used to keep food warm throughout the Shabbat, such as specially designed electric hotplates.

Smoke and fire raced up to the second floor of the house on 3371 Bedford Avenue between Avenue L and M.

The fire department believes that smoke detectors may not have been installed on the first and second floors, though a smoke detector was found in the basement.

The Sassoon family members who were killed were identified as Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; David, 12; Yehoshua, 10; Moshe, 8; Sara, 6; Yaakov, 5.

The mother, Gayle Sassoon, 45, and her 14-year-old daughter, Tzipora, survived by jumping out a window, and are currently hospitalized with burns.

The fire department arrived within minutes and fought their way through the fire getting the children out and to the hospital, but they didn't survive.

The father was not home at the time, and neighbors believe he is currently at a conference.