Community gathers to remember 4 family members killed in Bronx fire
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Family and friends gathered Tuesday to remember the four lives lost in a devastating fire in the Bronx over the weekend.
They came as far as from Pennsylvania and police had to close down several blocks.
The outpouring of love and support was just a fraction of the pain and suffering.
Four caskets were carried into a funeral home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Four members of one family were carried on the shoulders of a community.
The fourth casket was so small that it was cradled as it was carried inside this mosque. A 10-month-old baby was held one last time.
"We actually did not know how to deal with this," said Zaid Nagi of the Yemeni American Merchants Association. "In fact, the only way we could compare it and even go back to the war days of Yemen when bombs hit and whole families destroyed."
Inside the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center and outside, a community prayed as one and grieved as one.
"This is one of the biggest mosques in Brooklyn," said Naji Almontaser of the Yemeni American Merchants Association. "It fits maybe 1,200 people. And they're praying out in the street that's how big it is."
It was Sunday morning in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx when a raging inferno claimed the lives of three brothers and one baby.
The three brothers, 12-year-old Mohammed Waleed Ahmed, 10-year-old Kalheed Waleed Ban Saleh, and 22-year-old Ahmed Saleh died along with 10-month-old Barah Saleh, the daughter of the oldest brother.
The multi-generational family from Yemen all lived in the home.
"This is a catastrophe for the family, for the community," Nagi said.
The father of the three brothers is also at the hospital in critical condition.
The fire marshal is working to determine the cause of the fire.
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