Elderly couple in luxury Manhattan high-rise blaze

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK — An elderly couple died in a blaze that swept through their luxury Manhattan high-rise apartment before dawn and sent massive flames shooting out the windows.

Fire officials say the 85-year-old woman was pronounced dead Saturday at the famed River House co-op on East 52nd Street. Her 89-year-old husband died of his injuries at Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The fire started at about 5 a.m. in the couple’s ninth-floor apartment, filling it with smoke.

The cause of the blaze at the Art Deco building overlooking the FDR Drive is under investigation.

Police did not immediately release the names of the victims.

The River House complex was built in 1931, with a 26-story tower. It’s been home to notable residents including Henry Kissinger, Uma Thurman and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr.

The Associated Press

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