Relatives of Emiratis killed in house fire tell of brave aunt who tried to wake others
Hundreds travel long distances to offer condolences after family lost eight members in blaze
Hundreds travelled across the Gulf to offer their condolences to a Baniyas family who lost eight of their members, including five children, in a house fire shortly after dawn on Tuesday.
Today marks the third and final day of prayers. Male and female mourners came by plane and by car, with many guests travelling more than 1,200 kilometres from Salalah and other cities in Dhofar, Oman’s southernmost region.
As an extended family united in grief, stories of great courage and personal sacrifice emerged from the day of the fire.
Three nuclear families lived in the house – the matriarch, Fatima, her grown children Abdullah, Ali, and Khawla, two of their spouses, and nine grandchildren.
The deceased include Eman Al Katheeri and her daughter Fatima, 2. She is survived by her husband, Abdullah.
Ali and his wife Khiyar Al Katheeri lost two daughters, Thimna, 21, and Aya, 7. Khiyar is in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.
Khalwa, a teacher, died with her three children, Fatima, who was 4 or 5, Rames, 2, and Salem, who was a year old.
Other siblings and their families lived in the surrounding houses and woke after dawn to see smoke billowing from the house on Tuesday. They watched as Khawla Salem shouted from the second floor to wake her family before the smoke reached the third floor.
“When Khawla took care of the people, she forgot about herself,” said Maryam Al Baloushi, a close neighbour and family friend who grew up with the Al Katheeris. “She just cared about everyone else.”
Khawla’s bravery and self-sacrifice was an attribute not just during the tragedy but in daily life. It was known that she would give her salary to underprivileged families in Baniyas to help them pay for education or health care.
“She was a person who just wanted to care for others,” Ms Al Baloushi said. “Khawla, everyone loved her. She was very kind, very polite. She was a beautiful person. She was the one who tried to help everyone.”
It is believed Khawla collapsed as she was phoning the police.
Among the mourners were staff from schools where she had worked as a science teacher and a librarian – Al Asayel, Al Muntaha and Sas Al Nakheel.
On Tuesday, when Ali Al Katheeri, who is about 50, left to go to the mosque for morning prayers, everything was fine. His brother Abdullah, who would be 37 this year, quickly got his mother Fatima to safety.
As the fire continued, neighbours and strangers on the street joined the family to help.
Witnesses questioned whether the response from Civil Defence could have been quicker.
“You know, our neighbours helped more,” said a relative and witness, who did not want to be identified.
The fire was contained to the living room but smoke inhalation killed relatives throughout the three-storey house. Several victims succumbed after they were rescued from the building. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Mourners still bore marks on their arms from the fire. “A lot of people showed a lot of courage,” said Fatima Al Katheeri, 23, an engineering student, relative and neighbour.
Close relatives Muneera, 31, and Jawahar, 21, prepared the bodies for burial on Tuesday. Yesterday, Muneera helped welcome guests, weeping quietly only when she remembered Khawla’s cries for help.
After the tragedy, women filled the house of relative Asma Al Katheeri to give their condolences. Yesterday evening, a local preacher from East Baniyas recited a sermon and led a majlis of more than 60 women in prayers for the deceased.
Dozens more women arrived as twilight descended. “They are not just relatives by blood but relatives by heart,” Ms Al Baloushi said.