Bronx fire: Funerals for Tremont fire victims begin amid calls for justice

TREMONT, Bronx (WABC) — Funerals for victims of the deadly Bronx apartment fire have started taking place amid calls for justice for the bereaved families and other residents of the Tremont community.

A large memorial has grown outside the scene of Sunday’s devastating fire that left 17 people dead, including eight children.

And now many neighbors are demanding someone be held accountable.

“Sometimes you put tickets in, or you bring it management and they move when they want to move, you know?” said Edwin Rivera. “And now look what happened.”

Neighbors like Rivera say the landlord should have known if self-closing door were in fact not working.

That’s what the FDNY says contributed to the city’s worst fire in a generation.

ALSO READ | How you can help families affected by Bronx fire

Cell phone video shows the plume of black smoke that killed the 17 residents.

Firefighters escorted the people who stayed behind down the very stairwell where so many of their neighbors died.

“The family next to us died, the whole family,” said Yesbely Fernandez. “That could have been us.”

Photos and memories are all that’s left of the eight young children whose lives ended in terror.

Craig Roberts was 12-year-old Seydou Toure’s Humanities teacher at MS 391.

“You know, as a teacher, I taught this gentleman here for three years,” Roberts said. “He was in 8th grade this year, and it’s just devastating. You’re a little numb when something like this happens.”

Now some of the tenants are suing the city and building management, which gave Eyewitness News the following statement:

“We are devastated by this terrible tragedy and are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other agencies as they continue to investigate.”

One of the landlords, Rick Gropper, served on Mayor Eric Adams’ housing transition team.

Adams has not spoken publicly in two days, drawing criticism from Bill Neidhardt, who served as former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s communications director.

“The fact that they had this landlord on their transition team, that’s concerning,” said Neidhardt. “The fact that their step right after this fire is to get rid of the deputy mayor for housing, that’s concerning. A lot of signs are pointing to a growing concern that City Hall is not going to be there when tenants need them to be there.”

And in fact there is a press conference scheduled for this afternoon here outside the building.

Neighbors are coming together to demand answers.

Meantime, two of the young victims, 12-year-old Seydou Toure and his sister, 5-year-old Haouwa Mahamadou, were remembered Wednesday during funeral services at a Harlem mosque.

Burial plans remained uncertain for most of the other victims as some families waited for funeral homes to deliver their loved ones and, in some cases, deciding between burials here or having their loved ones returned to the Gambia.

Islamic law calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death, usually within 24 hours.

Here is the complete list of those who did not survive:

Ousmane Konteh
2-year-old boy

Haouwa Mahamadou
5-year-old girl

Fatoumata Dukureh
5-year-old girl
Omar Jambang
6-year-old boy

Mariam Dukureh
11-year-old girl

Mustapha Dukureh
12-year-old boy

Muhammed Drammeh
12-year-old boy

Seydou Toure
12-year-old boy

Nyumaaisha Drammeh
19-year-old woman

Fatoumata Drammeh
21-year-old woman

Sera Janneh
27-year-old woman

Isatou Jabbie
31-year-old woman

Haja Dukureh
37-year-old woman

Fatoumata Tunkara
43-year-old woman

Hagi Jawara
47-year-old man

Haji Dukaray
49-year-old man

Fatoumata Drammeh
50-year-old female

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ALSO READ: Top floor resident saves 3-year-old girl from Bronx high rise fire, reunites her with mother

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