Israel Matzav

Horrible: Seven children killed in Sabbath fire in New York

Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.

I'm actually starting with a story that is not directly connected to Israel because it is connected to Israel. Seven Jewish children were killed late Friday night in a tragic fire in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. I saw the story on Memeorandum and mentioned it to Mrs. Carl, who told me that the family - who used to live in Israel - were friends of friends whom she happened to visit this evening. Please pray for Avigayil bat Tzipora and Tzipora bat Avigayil.

A malfunctioning hot plate ignited a Brooklyn inferno that left seven children dead, and their mother and another sibling in critical condition, officials said.

A mother and her eight children — four boys and four girls ranging in age from 5 to 15 years-old — were in their Midwood home when the fire began in the kitchen just after midnight Saturday. Flames and deadly smoke quickly spread to second floor where the youngest kids were sleeping, authorities said.

A child’s cries of, “Mommy, Mommy, help me!” could be heard outside the blazing two-story brick home, a neighbor told The Post.

The mother, Gayle Sassoon, 45, and her 14-year-old daughter, Tzipara, jumped from second-floor windows to escape the flames.

Sassoon, her hands and feet bloodied, screamed, “My kids are in there, get them out! Get them out!” neighbors said.

The rest of the children were trapped in five upstairs bedrooms in the rear of the two-story brick home. Sassoon’s husband was away at a conference, authorities said.

A wall of flame kept the desperate mom from reaching her children, said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, who called the Brooklyn deaths the largest tragedy of its kind in seven years.

“From the conditions on arrival I would say it was impossible for them to have gotten out of the room,” he said. “The fire came up the stairs. The mother would have had to go into the fire to get to the back bedrooms. I think she valiantly tried, although she was badly burned, to get out and get help for her children.”

...

Sassoon might have turned on the hot plate before sundown Friday and left it on to keep food warm, authorities said. Observant Jews avoid turning on ovens or electrical appliances once Sabbath begins.

Neighbors described the family as “very religious” and “ultra-Orthodox.”

The family lived in a neighborhood near ours from 1988 until last year.

The father is away on business. May God Have mercy.

Labels: firefighters, Israeli in New York, New York City, personal stuff

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:23 PM