Tehran - FNA
Firefighters found a fourth body at the scene of a devastating fire at a motel on the New Jersey shore, said the local authorities, adding several other occupants who had been missing have now been accounted for.
Eight people were also injured in the Friday early morning blaze that destroyed the Mariner's Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant Beach. The motel was housing several people displaced by Superstorm Sandy. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Fox News reported.
Eyewitnesses said the flames spread quickly through the two-story wooden building two blocks from the beach.
"Within five minutes, literally, it was in flames," a witness said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said three males died in the blaze and eight people were injured. The fourth body has not yet been identified.
Several of the injured sustained serious burns, including one woman who was rescued by firefighters after she holed up in a shower to escape smoke and flames.
Coronato said the search and recovery phase of the investigation will continue until officials are certain they've accounted for the approximately 40 people who were registered at the motel.