Baby girl dies in Negev house fire

A 6-month-old baby girl died in a house fire in the Negev town of Tel Sheva on Thursday morning, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.

The infant was discovered in critical condition on the floor of a second-story bedroom in the Bedouin town outside Beersheba.

“Firefighters discovered the infant unconscious, without a pulse and with extensive burns all over her body,” MDA paramedic Hanan Rosilo said. “She showed no signs of life so we were forced to declare her dead at the scene.”

According to reports, a family member attempted to reach the baby from the outside using a ladder, but was unable to enter the bedroom window due to the smoke.

Investigators at the scene said a space heater was the likely cause of the blaze.

Beersheba police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the infant’s death.

Last month, a woman and her three children were killed when a fire broke out in their Ein Nakuba home, near Jerusalem. Investigators at the time said the blaze was likely started when a heater burst into flames.