7-Year-Old Bronx Fire Victim Dies

Asimi Soumare, a 7-year-old girl, died today from injuries sustained in Wednesday's horrible fire in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. She is the 10th victim of the fire, which killed her three siblings and mother and five cousins Wednesday. Her father, cabdriver Mamadou Soumare who rushed to the scene when his wife called him about the fire, has now lost his whole immediate family. Imam Musa Kaba said of Soumare and Moussa Magassa, who lost five of his children, "Life is a test. New York is crying for them. All Americans are crying for them. I told them to be patient."

Two other victims are still in the hospital; a 24-year-old is in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital while a 5-year-old slipped from stable to critical condition. The funerals for the nine others are planned for Monday, and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has offered to pay for the funerals to "ease some of their burden."

The NY Times has a few articles about the tragedy: One about how the Malian and Muslim community is dealing, another about West African immigrants, and one about how the FDNY's investigation. An assistant chief fire marshal Robert Byrnes says, "This is the most significant thing we do. We speak for the dead. They can't talk anymore, so we talk for them."

Photograph of the burned building from the FDNY