by Oren Yaniv and Bill Hutchinson
Firefighters raced late Sunday night to rescue terrified residents of a lower East Side apartment building that went up in flames.
The raging seven-alarm blaze broke out just before 11 p.m. at 283 Grand St., a six-story building with 16 apartments between Forsyth and Eldridge Sts.
As flames shot out of the roof and black smoke billowed from windows, firefighters scaled ladders to pluck frightened occupants of the building from fire escapes.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the blaze.
"There was a lot of smoke and then they [firefighters] told us to come out of the window onto the ladder," said Anna Li, 21, who lives on the top floor of the building.
"It was scary. My legs were shaking," said Li, adding that all five people in her apartment were rescued.
The fire continued to rage into the early-morning hours as it spread to neighboring buildings. Hundreds of firefighters tried to prevent it from consuming the entire block.
Fire officials did not immediately know the cause of the blaze.
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