A dance studio in New Jersey caught fire Monday, and someone captured the video of young girls leaping from the balcony of the building as the flames poured out of the building windows.
According to NBC News, about a dozen girls escaped the two-story building after the fire engulfed the building where they were taking dance lessons. Several of the girls can be seen on the video either dropping from the balcony to the ground or into the arms of bystanders who were trying to help them escape.
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At one point on the video, we can see just how harrowing things got when the girls just start jumping to the ground in hopes of saving their lives with no one to catch them.
“It was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen,” Mayor Michael McPartland explained of the girls.
Authorities said 15 people were taken to the hospital with “non-life threatening injuries.”
The person who took the video, Ilker Kesiktas, said that he and his friends tried to stop the fire by grabbing a fire extinguisher, but the flames were out to control. He said he called for help and that he and his friends tried to help the girls get out by putting a ladder up to the balcony and catching the girls on the ground after they jumped.
“I was the one who called the fire department. It was… I don’t want to think about it. I had trouble sleeping last night. It was crazy,” Kesiktas explained. “We got a fire extinguisher, and we just started blowing it, but it was just doing nothing.”
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
