by Lorena Mongelli
Two immigrant cousins were clinging to life yesterday after firefighters plucked them out of a walk-in freezer they had run into to escape a smoky blaze at their family's Bronx corner store.
Abdu Rahman Alowdi, 17, and Bassan Alowdi, 22, were sleeping inside the Trade Fair Deli in Morrisania around 4:30 a.m. when the blaze broke out, fire officials said.
Relatives said the pair had been sleeping in the store because of a recent rash of break-ins.
As they dozed, an overheated extension cord connected to an air conditioner burst into flames near the door, trapping the cousins and quickly filling the store with smoke.
Terrified, they ran into a walk-in cooler in the downstairs of the store, where firefighters later found them.
The Yemen-born victims were taken to Jacobi Hospital where they underwent treatment for smoke inhalation and are in critical condition.
"I hope he makes it. He's a good kid," said Abdu's father, Saleh Alowdi.
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