2 dead after major fire in commercial building in South El Monte

Two people were found dead in a South El Monte commercial building that was destroyed by a massive fire earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said Tuesday.

The fire was reported just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday in a building in the 10,000 block of Rush Street, an industrial complex in the city of San Gabriel Valley. When firefighters arrived, the building was already fully engulfed in flames, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Images from that night show large, bright red flames and plumes of smoke rising from the building.

The fire was extinguished around 1 a.m. and about an hour later, firefighters discovered a body inside the building, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

On Tuesday, the county coroner confirmed that a second body had been found.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. No other injuries were reported.