Families prepare to lay to rest victims lost in Bronx fire

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Prayers and the compelling need to bury the dead have filled a Bronx mosque, as a bereaved community began saying goodbye to those lost in New York City’s most devastating fire in decades. In all, 17 people died, including eight children. Community leaders are huddling to plan funerals and decide if any of the dead will be repatriated. The vast majority of those who died in the fire at a Bronx apartment complex had ties to Gambia. In the first lawsuit to arise from the fire, a married couple that lives in the building on Tuesday accused the building’s owners of negligence because of a lack of functioning safety measures.