A person is now confirmed dead following a 5-alarm North York high rise fire Friday evening.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Tony Bavota, the discovery of the body was made early Saturday morning at around 1 a.m. after fire crews were able to re-enter the building.
"Some secondary searches were conducted and some investigations, at which point a body was located on one of the balconies."
During the Deputy Chief's Saturday morning briefing, a reporter suggested that residents living below could hear the victim screaming for help.
"No that I'm aware of. If we had received a report to that regard, we would have sent crews to investigate and to assist. There we no reports last night of anyone missing or unaccounted for."
The fire began on the 7th floor of an apartment building at 235 Gosford Boulevard, off Jane Street south of Steeles Avenue, at around 5:30 p.m.
About 100 firefighters and 22 trucks raced to the scene as flames and smoke belched from the building.
The fire was eventually brought under control at around 9:30 p.m.
CTV Toronto
Some terrified tenants went out on their balconies where witnesses say they could be heard screaming for help.
Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said several people were rescued, and that at least one was taken to hospital where they were listed in stable condition.
VIDEO with audio of witness Maria Vidal, who described what it was like on the ground as people were yelling from a balcony surrounded by fire and people yelling jump, says she felt “very helpless.” pic.twitter.com/3o6F8usrPR
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) November 16, 2019
Transit buses were brought to the scene in North York to shelter many of the tenants.
The Red Cross aided in setting up an emergency shelter at the Driftwood Community Centre, just south of the apartment.
Chief Pegg later tweeted that the building's electricity was being disconnected and all the tenants evacuated for safety reasons.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.
with files from Newstalk 1010 and CP24