Twins, 9, Die After Electrical Fire Tears Through Ohio Home

An electrical fire at an Ohio home has claimed the lives of two 9-year-old twins and left another six people injured.

Myla Leary, 9, from Cleveland, died in the blaze that engulfed the home in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood on Sunday, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office.

The name of her twin, who also died in the fire, has not been released.

The twins, as well as five adults and another child, were transported to a nearby hospital by paramedics on Sunday.

Cleveland Fire Department Lt. Mike Norman told the outlet the adults as well as other child had suffered minor injuries and were released on Monday afternoon.

Lt. Norman added the twins lived with their family in the upstairs of the multi-unit home, near an attic, and that section had been severely damaged in the fire.

He said some $20,000 in damage had been caused by the fire and that some debris had been left at the side of the home.

Nearby homes also suffered a small amount of damage with the sides of both homes having been burned.

Neighbor Julia Wignot said she left her home about an hour before the fire started and returned later to find police had arrived along with ambulances.

She told cleveland.com: "I could smell the smoke on the inside of my home. When I heard about the twins on the news, I was really sad because they're just kids."

Wignot added she did not know the family but said the twins used to play outside and appeared to be happy children.

Newsweek has contacted the Cleveland Fire Department for comment.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, 3,515 people in the U.S. died in fires in the year 2019.

It broke a trend of rising cases in 2017 and 2018, where 3,645 and 3,810 people died each year respectively.

The U.S. Fire Administration also said the overall fire death trend increased by 3 percent from 2010 to 2019, according to its website.

Earlier this year, Pennsylvania authorities ruled the deaths of four family members in a fire at an apartment were to be ruled as three homicides and a suicide.

Jafar Afshar, 67 was found to have used accelerants inside the Steelton home, setting it on fire, Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick told reporters.