Unity after tragedy

last updated 8 January 2015

New York City

Thousands of mourners jammed the streets of the Bronx, N.Y., this week in a funeral procession for 10 immigrants from Mali killed in a house fire last week. Nine of the dead were children, including 6-month-old twins. The fire, sparked by a space heater, consumed a four-story house shared by the families of Mamadou Soumare, who lost his wife and four children, and Moussa Magassa, who lost five children. His wife and two daughters survived. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner paid for the traditional Muslim funeral, and thousands of New Yorkers of all faiths have contributed to a survivors fund. Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed the families after the funeral. “New York is your city,” he said. “America is your country. And we all grieve together in this.”