Boy, 8, dies in blaze

A father heroically ran into his burning Brooklyn home multiple times and rescued five of his children last night -- but tragically couldn't reach an 8-year-old boy trying to escape the flames through a third-floor window.

"I saw the boy hanging out of the window screaming as firefighters started to rescue him," said a neighbor, David Cohen.

The blaze began at around 9:40 p.m. in the two-family home on Avenue P in Midwood.

As many as 20 people were celebrating the end of the Jewish holiday Sukkot in a tent-like structure on the property, witnesses said.

"I was around the corner when I heard an explosion and I started smelling smoke," said a woman who lives nearby.

"I looked up and saw huge flames licking the sky coming from the middle of the house from the attic."

Another witness, who also asked not to be identified, saw "the father running back into the house when it was still on fire to bring back all the kids to the mom.

"I don't know how he made it out alive."

Despite his efforts, the dad couldn't make it past the intense flames that trapped the boy in the room.

"I saw him holding his head and crying" afterward, the witness said.

Fire Chief Michael Marone said the "flames were substantial and [the child] was trapped in his bedroom.

"It was very tough to get him out because the flames were at the very top, which is where he was trapped."

All of the injured children are under 10.

Rescuers rushed a 1-year-old girl to Coney Island Hospital in critical condition.

The other kids -- three boys and a girl -- were taken to Staten Island University North Hospital's burn unit in serious but stable condition.

Four firefighters suffered minor injuries.

It took more than an hour to get the three-alarm blaze under control.

It was not immediately clear how it started.

Additional reporting by Matthew Nestel