Mass funeral for 15 Muslims killed in New York fire

AA / Washington / Dildar Baykan

A mass funeral prayer was held Sunday for Muslims who lost their lives in the deadly fire that broke out January 9 at a building in the Tremont section of the Bronx, New York.

📽️#New_York : Funeral of the 15 #muslims killed in apartment fire

A funeral prayer was held for Muslims who lost their lives in the deadly apartment fire in the Tremont section of the Bronx, New York pic.twitter.com/gDdOLocRHW

– ANADOLU AGENCY (FR) (@aa_french) January 17, 2022

Funerals for 15 of the 17 victims of the fire were held at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx, with a strong presence of Gambians.

” It’s very sad. But everything comes from Allah. Tragedies always happen, but we should thank Allah that we are all able to come together,” said the uncle of one victim named Haja Dukuray – who lost his entire family of five, including her husband and their three children.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two Gambian government officials attended the funeral.

“When tragedies happen, we come together,” Schumer said.

For his part, Eric Adams said, “I am here to express the pain that all New Yorkers feel.”

After the funeral ceremony, 11 of the bodies were sent to New Jersey for burial, and four others will be buried in The Gambia at the request of their families.

At least 17 people, including eight children, died in the fire started on January 9, while 63 others were poisoned by smoke.

According to the New York City Mayor’s office, the majority of the building’s residents were Muslim immigrants from Gambia, a West African country.

*Translated from English by Fatma Ben Dhaou

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