Hot plate likely behind fire that killed 7 children in Brooklyn

(Image credit: Twitter.com/ILNewsflash)

last updated 23 March 2015

The fire that killed seven siblings in their Midwood, Brooklyn, home on Saturday was most likely caused by a malfunctioning hot plate that was left on in their kitchen.

The children — Eliane, 16; David, 12; Rivkah, 11; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; Sara, 6; and Yaakob, 5 — will be buried in Israel, where they lived before the family moved to Brooklyn about 18 months ago. Their mother, Gayle, and 14-year-old sister Siporah are in critical condition and on respirators in an area hospital. The children's father, who was away in Manhattan for an education retreat when the fire broke out, said at their funeral on Sunday they were "so pure" and "angels." "My children were unbelievable," Gabriel Sassoon said. "They were the best."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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