‘Doesn’t feel real:’ 3 youths die in North Carolina house fire

CONCORD, N.C. — Three youths died in a house fire in a Charlotte suburb early Sunday, authorities in North Carolina said.

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According to a Facebook post by the City of Concord NC Fire Department, the blaze began at about 1:08 a.m. EDT at a one-story public housing duplex in Concord. The duplex was owned by the city, fire officials said.

Fire officials, who responded within five minutes, said two children died at the scene and a third youth was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. According to WSOC-TV, the two youths at the scene were an 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old brother. Their 16-year-old sister died at the hospital, the television station reported.

The parents of the juveniles were not at home when the fire broke out, according to WSOC. Firefighters were able to control the blaze by 1:30 a.m. EDT.

“It doesn’t feel real, it feels like a dream or something,” Ruby Camacho, a friend of one of the victims, told the television station.

The American Red Cross is assisting displaced residents of the adjacent unit of the duplex. The unit was not damaged by the fire but still sustained heat and water damage, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, fire officials said.

Concord is about 27 miles northeast of downtown Charlotte.