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Body of boy found after blaze in abandoned Chicago house
CHICAGO – Authorities say firefighters found the body of a child after extinguishing a small garbage fire in the basement of an abandoned home on Chicago’s South Side.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office Wednesday identified the victim as 4-year-old Manuel Aguilar. Officials previously had said the child was between 9 months and 2 years old.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says firefighters smelled lighter fluid in a gangway late Tuesday before finding the small blaze in the basement of the two-story house in the Englewood neighbourhood.
Langford says after extinguishing the fire, firefighters found the child’s body wrapped in a blanket that was smoking.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Officer Thomas Sweeney says detectives are questioning persons of interest. No charges have been filed.
The medical examiner’s office says an autopsy performed on the boy Wednesday was inconclusive.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that the child was a 4-year-old, instead of a toddler.
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