7-year-old girl becomes 10th victim of NYC fire

Because the victims were Muslim, the bodies must be buried according to Islamic funeral traditions. The body is supposed to be laid to rest with the face pointing toward the Islamic holy city of Mecca. If local laws require a casket, Muslims may use one, though many would prefer to bury the body without a casket.

Magassa declined to speak with the media after Friday’s service, although he lingered to speak with several Muslim clerics. One of them, Sheik Moussa Drammeh, said Magassa’s faith was sustaining him through the nightmarish days.

As Magassa left the mosque, he was swarmed by reporters and sped away in a car without talking.

Twenty-two relatives, including 17 children, lived in the three-story brick home where the fire was ignited by a space heater in the basement. The fast-moving blaze trapped its victims on the upper floors, and some children were thrown to rescuers through broken glass in upstairs windows.

Soumare, after a frantic cell phone call from his wife as he drove a cab through Harlem, had watched helplessly from the street as the flames consumed his family, killing his spouse and three children. Magassa got word of the heartbreaking blaze while still in Africa.

Three victims remain hospitalized
Three members of the families remained in hospitals Saturday with injuries from the blaze. A 6-year-old girl remained in critical condition Saturday at Jacobi Medical Center.

The condition of a 5-year-old girl was stable at Lincoln Hospital, where a 24-year-old woman were also listed in stable condition.

The exact relationship between Moussa Magassa and Mamadou Soumare was not clear. Relatives and neighbors have said they were half-brothers, while others said they were friends but considered themselves spiritual brothers. Magassa had two wives in the home.

Neighbors and family members described an idyllic life at the house, which was a focal point for the city’s Malian community. The young cousins were often seen playing together in the yard or in the street outside their home in the Highbridge section of the Bronx.

Earlier Friday, a single candle flickered on the stone stairs outside the front door of the burned-out home — a remnant of an impromptu Thursday night vigil. The family van, debris across its roof, was still parked in the driveway. A makeshift memorial of flowers, notes and stuffed animals had appeared near the corner bodega.

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