By FireRescue1 Staff
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Seven children of a Syrian refugee family were killed Tuesday in a house fire.
CBC reported that that the fire destroyed the home and caused life-threatening injuries to the father of the children, Ebraheim Barho, and non-life-threatening injuries to the mother, Kawthar.
The children were identified as:
- Abdullah, 3 months old
- Rana, 2
- Hala, 3
- Ola, 8
- Mohamad, 9
- Rola, 12
- Ahmed, 14
Danielle Burt, the family’s neighbor, said she heard a loud noise and ran outside to see what happened.
“I heard a huge bang, and I was lying in bed with my daughter, followed by a woman screaming, so I jumped up out of bed and looked out the back window and all I could see was flames shooting out from the back door going out onto their deck,” she said.
Abdallah Yousri, an imam at mosque the family attended, said the incident is “unbelievable,” according to the New York Times.
“They are from Raqqa, which is one of the worst affected areas in Syria,” Yousri said. “They fled from there to be burned over here.”
Yousri said the family had moved to Canada in 2017. Friends of the family said they were planning to move out of the home next week.
Nova Scotia Islamic Center imam Wael Haridy said Ebraheim was burned as he “tried to save his kids.”
“He ran back into the house when it was on fire, and that is why he had major burns all around his body,” Haridy said.
The Heart Society, the group that sponsored the Barho family, released a statement about the tragic incident.
“Many people, far too many to name, helped bring the Barho family to East Hants and get settled,” the group said. “For the year and a half they were in Canada, the youngest Barhos had been able to live the carefree life of children. They loved every minute of it, and it seems impossible we won’t hear their laughter and feel their hugs again.”