7 kids die Halifax fire
‘Everyone devastated’ by refugee family tragedy
HALIFAX — Seven children, all members of a Syrian refugee family, died early Tuesday in a fast-moving Halifax house fire described as Nova Scotia’s deadliest blaze in recent memory.
Their parents, identified as Ebraheim and Kawthar Barho, were in hospital Tuesday, where Ebraheim was fighting for his life after apparently trying in vain to save his children.
Kawthar Barho was also injured but was expected to survive.
Their children ranged in age from about three months to the mid-teens.
In a brief interview from the hospital, Imam Wael Haridy of the Nova Scotia Islamic Community Centre said the Barhos had fled that country’s civil war.
“We’re here in hospital with a desperate mother who lost seven of her kids,” he said, noting that officials are conducting DNA tests to confirm identities before they can proceed with a traditional Islamic burial process.
“She’s saying to us, ‘Am I going to get my children back ...?’ It’s so hard. It’s so sad.”
Many people from Halifax’s tight-knit Muslim community had gathered at the hospital, he said.
“People want to try to help, but how can we ... how can we provide her with anything?” said Haridy. “It’s a shock. It’s a tragedy.”
The family is among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years, including 345 privately sponsored refugees.
For the Nova Scotians who sponsored the Syrian family, the news of the deaths of the children they had grown close to came as an “unthinkable” blow.
“I think everyone is devastated and our loss pales in comparison to the parents,” said Natalie Horne, vice-president of the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team (HEART).
Horne said the family arrived on Sept. 29, 2017.
She said the children who died are: Ahmad, 14; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2 and Abdullah, who was born in Canada in November.