SODUS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - The Latest on a Michigan motel fire that killed six people from the same family (all times local):
4 p.m.
Authorities say they gave the wrong last name for a woman who was killed with five of her children in an overnight Michigan motel fire.
The Berrien County sheriff’s office says the name of the 26-year-old woman who died in the early Saturday fire was Kiarre Curtis, not Kiarre Samuel. Her five children who died ranged in age from 2 to 10 years old. Smoke inhalation is the likely cause.
Curtis’ husband, 36-year-old Samuel Curtis, escaped with another child. The fire occurred early Saturday at Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus (SO’-dis) Township in southwestern Michigan’s Berrien County.
Another motel guest, Robert Payne, says he liked the children and sometimes gave them money for candy.
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10:50 a.m.
Police say a woman who died in an overnight Michigan motel fire was the mother of the five children who also perished.
The fire swept through the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus (SO’-dis) Township early Saturday, roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Chicago.
The woman was identified as 26-year-old Kiarre Curtis. Chief Deputy Robert Boyce of the Berrien County sheriff’s office says Curtis was the mother of the five children who died. They ranged in age from 2 to 10 years old.
Boyce says Curtis’ husband and another child survived. They were all staying in one room.
He says the tragedy “tears at your heart.” The cause of the fire is under investigation.
This item has been corrected to reflect that police now say the dead woman’s name was Kiarre Curtis, not Kiarre Samuel.
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9:59 a.m.
Five children and an adult from the same family have been killed in a massive motel fire in southwestern Michigan.
Authorities say the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus (SO’-dis) Township was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, shortly after a 911 call at 1:45 a.m. Saturday.
The Berrien County sheriff’s office says the children ranged in age from 2 to 10. A woman identified as 26-year-old Kiarre Curtis also died.
The motel is off Interstate 94 in the southwestern corner of Michigan, roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Chicago. The sheriff’s office says 27 rooms were occupied at the time of the fire. Ninety percent of the property has smoke, fire or water damage.
Eight people were treated for smoke inhalation and released from a hospital.
This item has been corrected to reflect that police now say the dead woman’s name was Kiarre Curtis, not Kiarre Samuel.
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