A fire in a high-rise Chicago office has left at least six people dead and several more injured.
Some of the victims inside the 35-storey Cook County administration building were not found until after the fire was brought under control.
Firefighters were carrying out a floor-by-floor search when trapped workers called emergency services on their mobile phones.
Fire Superintendent James Joyce said the building can hold up to 2,500 people during peak working hours. He said: "Searching for all those people, at the same time fighting the fire is more complicated than it looks from the outside."
Mr Joyce said a comprehensive search of the building was completed about five hours after the fire was first reported. The cause of the fire is not yet known. The building has an alarm system but no sprinklers.
He said most of those killed were in one area in a stairwell. At least 15 people were taken to hospital. At least two were critical and two in a serious condition.
The fire broke out on the 12th floor at around 5pm local time (11pm Irish time). The smoke was so thick that it forced some people inside to retreat from stairways.
Mr Joyce said the injured were found between the 16th and 22nd floors of the building. The office block houses state and county officials.
AP