At least six firefighters, one emergent medical service worker and three civilians were injured early Monday when fighting a major fire which broke out late Sunday in Chinatown in New York City, fire official told Xinhua.?

The blaze was first reported in a six-storey apartment building near Grand and Forsyth Side streets shortly after 10 p.m. EDT and a seventh alarm called about midnight EDT, the fire official said. Additional calls for manpower and equipment were being made up to midnight.

Fire was first reported on lower floors but later reports had fire "through the roof" and firefighters evacuating the building. The blaze spread to an adjacent apartment building in the heavily occupied area in lower Manhattan, the central New York City.

The type of injuries reported was not immediately known, but firefighters had been rescuing people from the building's upper floors before abandoning the structure to the flames.