4-Year-Old Brother, Sister Killed After Playing With Fire

A basement blaze that killed 4-year-old half-siblings was accidentally set by children playing with fire, authorities said yesterday. The twin of one of the children survived the blaze that was reported to authorities just before midnight Saturday in a two-story brick home in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Authorities wouldn't elaborate on exactly what caused the blaze.

Within minutes of police and firefighters arriving, the children were carried outside and rescue workers tried to resuscitate them as neighbors watched. Two 4-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were pronounced dead at St. John's Episcopal Hospital. Police identified the boy as Jai'Launi Tinglin and the girl as Ayini Tinglin. They shared the same father. Their 4-year-old sister—Jai'Launi's twin—was hospitalized in stable condition at St. John's. The children's 63-year-old grandfather and a 55-year-old woman were listed in stable condition at other hospitals. (More fire stories.)