Philadelphia: Funerals were held on Monday for nine children and three adults who died philadelphia The fires five days into the new year, the deadliest fire in the city in more than a century.
A funeral procession on the city’s rain-soaked streets on Monday morning was followed by services at Temple University’s Liacorus Center, with community members invited and asked to wear white.
Attendees of the three-hour service listened to Bible readings, official announcements, and music. Relatives spoke of their loss and the memories of their loved ones from two microphones behind coffin tables amid white flowers and large photographs of victims.
“None of us know what to do with the funeral with 12 people,” said Reverend Dr. Elin Waller of Annon Tabernacle Baptist Church. “We’re in a place of grief and pain that we don’t wish on anyone else.”
One speaker, an aunt of the children, said in tears that she believed there was “a family reunion in heaven”.
“I believe he is with his father. I believe he is with my mother. I believe he is with my father, his uncle and aunt,” she said. “The injury is deep but will subside.”
The victims of the January 5 fire were all on the third floor of a duplex north of the city center near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The three-story brick duplex was owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the city’s public housing agency and the state’s largest landowner.
Three Sisters – Rosalie McDonald, Virginia Thomas And quinsha white According to family members, nine of their children died due to burning in the fire. The city last week identified the other victims as Quintian Tate-McDonald, Destiny McDonald, Decwan Robinson, J’Kwon Robinson. Tanisha Robinson, Tiffany Robinson, Shanice Wayne, Natasha Wayne and Jania Roberts. Officials did not reveal his age.
Investigators confirmed last week that it started on a Christmas tree, but stopped officially saying it was caused by a child playing with a lighter.
It was the deadliest fire at a residential building in the US in years, but a few days later a fire in a tall building in the Bronx borough of New York City killed 17 people, including several children.
A funeral procession on the city’s rain-soaked streets on Monday morning was followed by services at Temple University’s Liacorus Center, with community members invited and asked to wear white.
Attendees of the three-hour service listened to Bible readings, official announcements, and music. Relatives spoke of their loss and the memories of their loved ones from two microphones behind coffin tables amid white flowers and large photographs of victims.
“None of us know what to do with the funeral with 12 people,” said Reverend Dr. Elin Waller of Annon Tabernacle Baptist Church. “We’re in a place of grief and pain that we don’t wish on anyone else.”
One speaker, an aunt of the children, said in tears that she believed there was “a family reunion in heaven”.
“I believe he is with his father. I believe he is with my mother. I believe he is with my father, his uncle and aunt,” she said. “The injury is deep but will subside.”
The victims of the January 5 fire were all on the third floor of a duplex north of the city center near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The three-story brick duplex was owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the city’s public housing agency and the state’s largest landowner.
Three Sisters – Rosalie McDonald, Virginia Thomas And quinsha white According to family members, nine of their children died due to burning in the fire. The city last week identified the other victims as Quintian Tate-McDonald, Destiny McDonald, Decwan Robinson, J’Kwon Robinson. Tanisha Robinson, Tiffany Robinson, Shanice Wayne, Natasha Wayne and Jania Roberts. Officials did not reveal his age.
Investigators confirmed last week that it started on a Christmas tree, but stopped officially saying it was caused by a child playing with a lighter.
It was the deadliest fire at a residential building in the US in years, but a few days later a fire in a tall building in the Bronx borough of New York City killed 17 people, including several children.
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