Four Die As Fire in E-Bike Shop Spreads to Upper Apartments in New York City

A fire that started in a New York City e-bike shop early Tuesday spread to upper-floor apartments, killing four people and injuring several others, authorities said.

City fire officials said the blaze was reported shortly after midnight on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a six-story building that houses HQ E-Bike Repair. A pile of burned bikes and other debris was seen on the sidewalk outside the building.

Two men and two women died and two other women were hospitalized in critical condition, officials said. A firefighter suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Electric bikes have become popular, non-gasoline-burning ways to make deliveries, commute and zip around a city that has promoted cycling in recent decades. Many run on lithium ion batteries, which have been blamed for numerous fires.

In April in the Queens section of New York City, two children were killed in a fire blamed on an electric bicycle.