D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is calling for criminal investigations after two people, including a nine-year-old boy, died after a house fire in an unlicensed rental property in Brightwood.

Twenty fire and rescue crews responded to the two-alarm fire at 708 Kennedy Street NW on Sunday morning. The boy and an adult man were found at the back of the first floor; both were unconscious and not breathing when they were carried out of the building, according to D.C. Fire officials.

A D.C. police spokesperson identified the nine-year-old boy as Yafety Solomon. The Washington Post reports that the adult was 40-year-old Fitsum Kebede.

“We are very saddened by a tragedy in our community. And we want to get to the bottom of what happened,” Bowser told reporters today. “What we believe at this point is that we had an unlicensed rental situation. And we have made referrals to see what exactly what’s happening on the property, and if there is any criminal liability.”

The mayor said in a release that she has referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the D.C. Office of the Attorney General for criminal investigation. Already, D.C.’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, D.C. Fire, and the Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the fire, as is the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, according to Bowser’s office.

A woman was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and two police officers were taken in for observation, according to D.C. Fire. Five other people living in the home have been displaced.

The rowhouse appears to have been subdivided into multiple living spaces, including areas that were unexpectedly barred with security gates.

Firefighters “broke through the first door, they found the second door, and then when they got there, they ended up finding a locked gate, and they had to get saws to be able to get through. And that’s where they started seeing the patients,” D.C. Fire Chief Gregory Dean told reporters. “Illegal occupancy means that regular exiting is not the same. They were trying to provide what they call locked areas for everybody, which plays against you when you have a fire.”

It’s not clear if the building owner has other properties. Most of the tenants hail from Ethiopia, according to the Post.

“On this sad occasion, I want to take the opportunity to remind District renters that they have rights,” Ernest Chrappah, the director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, said in a press release. He reminded renters they can report unsafe conditions anonymously.

“We’re asking everybody to get in touch with us about unsafe living conditions, and we will work with them on getting into safe living conditions,” Bowser said. “Because there is no amount of cheap housing that’s worth losing a child.”

Gaspard Le Dem and Martin Austermuhle contributed reporting.