January 16, 2022 – Bronx, NY: A community is in mourning as hundreds of people, including the victim’s families and city officials gathered at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx.
The funeral service held today honored the lives of 15 of the 17 victims that were killed in the tragic fire at the Twin Parks North West Apartment Building last Sunday.
The total number of Bronx Fire victims has been confirmed to 17 people. A funeral for two young fire victims, siblings, Seydou Toure, 12, and Haouwa Mahomoudu, 5, was held on Wednesday at the Timbuktu Islamic Center in Upper Manhattan.
The victims ages range from 2-years-old to 50-years-old and the different casket sizes are a somber reminder of the lives lost.
According to officials, four of the victims bodies will be flown back to their homeland of Gambia for burial. A majority of the other victims will have burial at a cemetery in New Jersey.
On January 09, 2022. Bronx New York Governor of New York Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, along with fire chief Daniel Nigro held a press conference outside of the location of the five alarm fire that killed at least 17 people earlier today in the Bronx.
The official cause of the fatal fire was due to a faulty space heater and an open door. This caused fire and heavy smoke to spread throughout. making it impossible for some of the residents to escape.
According to City Officials, the early reported number of people killed in the Bronx fire was revised from 19 to 17, 9 adults and 8 children, NYC mayor Adams confirms.
Over 48 individuals remain in the hospital with critical injuries. FDNY determined that a faulty space heater was the cause of the fire and an open door to a unit is what caused the fire to spread. At least 8 children and 9 adults lost their lives as a result of the intense blaze.
First responders deemed the blaze to be a 5-Alarm fire and a M.C.I. (Mass Casualty Incident) response was requested. Early reports suggested that only around 40 people may have been injured in the Bronx fire at 333 E 181st street.
Those numbers quickly climbed to upwards of 60 people injured with 34 sustaining life-threatening injuries during a fire that broke out on the third floor of a 19 story apartment building in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx Sunday Morning.
Fire officials said around 200 firefighters responded to the scene and HazMat was also requested for a Lithium Ion battery on fire.
We spoke with a neighbor of deadly fire, who herself is a fire-survivor.
She was crying outside of Bronx building that caught fire, trying to find ways to help the victims.
I heard fire alarms, I heard the sirens and everything. I live on the Grand Concourse.
And I heard all these fire alarms and I’m like, “What the hell is that?” And then I see something, a flash go by, and I go sit back on the couch. And then I’m like, I hear it again. And then again and again and again. My first thing is like, “Oh, God, I hope something didn’t happen to a cop.”
And then I hear all of this siren after siren after police and the whole nine yards. I see the EMTs going up the street and I’m like “what the hell is going on?”
One of my friends called me and said “Jo, there’s a fire on 181st.”I said “181st where?”
She said “the big building” I said “down the street from where I used to live?” Like “Oh my God, I know people that live there”
Jo then mentions to us that she’s a fire survivor herself.
“I’ve been in a fire. I know what it’s like but to lose nine children, to lose a life, to lose a life. I just prayed. I just, I just prayed.”
The Red Cross tells us there is a Resource Center set up at PS 391 – located at 2190 Folin St. – for residents affected by the fire at 333 E. 181st St in the Bronx. Families can also call 311 to file Missing Person report.
If you or some one you know was affected by the fire, Text “181STFIRE” to 692692 to receive updates about resources and services available.
Si se vio afectado por el incendio envié un mensaje de texto con “181STFIRE” al 692692 para recibir información actualizada de recursos
Video by our team of Journalists Kevin RC Wilson & Oliya Scootercaster (FreedomNewsTV)