New York: Communal funerals for the victims of the deadly Fire New York City in decades have been planned for weeks, a week after the flames in high-rise bronx.
This service will be held at the Islamic Cultural Center in Bronx, said Imam Musa Kabba from the Mosque-Ur-Rahmah, a mosque where some families of the victims have gathered to grieve.
The funeral starts on Wednesday with services at the Harlem Mosque for two victims, Seydou Toure, 12, and Sister Haouwa Mahamadou, 5.
Community leaders have curled up to make arrangements for 15 remaining victims, all of which have a bond to Gambia.
The dead began to arrive Thursday afternoon at the Queen’s funeral home, where they would be cleaned and wrapped in accordance with the Islamic tradition.
Some families have been torn between whether to bury their loved ones in their Western African country or in the United States.
“There are many emotions – many emotions – when we go back and forth about where to bury them, here or bring them back home,” said Haji Dukuray, Uncle Haja Dukuray, who was killed with her husband and three children.
The Dukuray family itself was conflicting but would eventually bury the people they loved in the United States.
“This has been unprecedented.
There are many emotions in the conversation, whether it is among us here, or among families in Gambia,” he said.
Sera Janneh’s family, meanwhile, plans to bury it in Gambia.
“It’s very difficult,” said the 27-year-old father, Tijan Janneh.
“But we have a good community, and the city, Bronx, all America, the whole world today – they all pray for us.” The dead who have not been put to rest also include a 2-year-old boy, a mother who died with three children, and her husband and wife who were four children now orphans.
Alhagie Ebou Cham, United Gambia Association President and the Honorary Consul for Gambia, said his government was ready to help in any way, including repatriation from families who died if they choose.
The medical examining office said all the victims were weak from thick smoke poured out of the third floor apartment, where officials said the electric space heaters were not working to trigger fire.
Many people fled from the building of 19 floors, but others died when they tried to clink the stamped stairs.
The difficulty in identifying the dead and contacting the next complex relatives made a funeral plan, just like the number of victims, said Kabba.
Outside the apartment building, pedestrians stopped in an emergency warning with flowers and photos of people who perished and some of them were still in hospitals.
While the family of those who died Puri planned, community activists begged for more assistance for survivors.
Some have difficulty getting services or getting what they need, especially cash, advocates said at a press conference.
Some entities have raised money for those affected by fire.
It took time to set the system to distribute money fairly, said Salim Drammeh from the Gambian Youth Organization, a Bronx-based group that has collected more than $ 1 million through an online campaign.