NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A local mosque is planning to host a mass funeral for the 17 victims of the Bronx apartment fire.
Musa Kabba, the imam at the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah Mosque, told NY1 that many victims were Muslim immigrants from West Africa, and they plan to honor them with a funeral either Friday or Saturday.
Some of the victims were members of the mosque, which has remained open throughout the tragedy to offer support to survivors and victims’ families, according to the New York Post.
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Ishak Drammeh, a resident who lived on the 15th floor with his wife and three children, told NY1 that he has been holding onto his faith and turning to the mosque for guidance as he continues to wait to learn his family’s fate.
He told a NY1 reporter that his family was unable to get out of the building, but he has not been able to confirm their deaths.
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“I just want to know if my family, they’re living or they’re going. That’s all I want,” he said.
Drammeh added that while the loss would be devastating, he believes his family will have moved on to a better place.
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Meanwhile, investigations into how the fire and smoke were able to spread so rapidly are still ongoing.
Fire officials on Monday announced that the cause of the fire was a malfunctioning space heater in a duplex apartment spanning the second and third floors.
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FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro also said that doors, which should have automatically closed, also somehow remained open at the duplex and on the 15th floor, which allowed the smoke to billow through the building.
He told WCBS 880 and 1010 WINS Tuesday that they will be looking at why the doors did not close.
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“It was so deformed it is hard to tell,” he said. “All we know was that it was open all the way.”
Nigro said investigators may be able to determine what caused a door on the 15th floor to remain open “that contributed to the spread of the smoke.”
The cause could be determined this week, he added.
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