National Beat
THROUGH THE FIRE:
BEHIND THE MALIAN TRAGEDY
Months after the
two African families in New York
suffered losses in what was
described as one of the
deadliest residential fires in
the city’s history, AFRIQUE
contributing writer Wadzanai
Mhute revisits the site of the
tragedy to get the full story.
Bronx, New
York-The house on 1022
Woodycrest Avenue is boarded up.
There is little evidence that
there was a fire that claimed
ten lives. Yet the lives of the
Magassa and Soumare families
were forever changed on this
block.
On March 7th, a
faulty space heater sparked the
fire that ignited a nearby
mattress and quickly spread
throughout the three-story home,
which housed the two Malian
families of Mamadou Soumare and
Moussa Magassa. David Todd was
playing video games with a
friend in an adjacent apartment
building when someone
frantically knocked on his door
to inform him of the raging
blaze. Todd or “Easy” as he is
known in the High Bridge
neighborhood is the unofficial
“super” of the block. He
hurriedly took his key to the
yard and pulled the fence that
divided the two buildings down
in order to gain access to the
burning house. Magassa’s second
wife Aissa called out to Easy.
He told her to throw the
children down. Easy caught the
first child. But the second
child hit an abandoned bathtub
in the garden and died. Then
Aissa followed, breaking both
legs in the process. She and
four of her children survived.
Easy insists that he is not the
hero. He has a 9-year-old
daughter of his own and he was
just helping.
In total, Moussa
and his first wife Manthia
Magassa lost five children-
Bandigou, 11; Mahamadou, 7;
Aboukary, 6; Diaba, 3 and Bilaly,
1. Soumare lost his wife,
Fatoumata, 42; daughter Asimi,
7; son Djibril, 4 and
seven-month-old twins, Sise and
Harouna.
Soumare says he
is not bitter. “It was God’s
will. He has a reason for
everything.” Soumare’s faith
and family have helped him cope
with the tragedy. The Malian
community is an extended family
where neighbors help strangers.
They have united to help the two
families with food, clothing,
and financial support. “Everyone
was shocked, all the
communities, all human beings,”
said Adama Traore, a Malian who
is close to the families and
works for Africa Services where
donations were earmarked for the
families. “You cannot question
God, it happened, now you move
on.”
The Islamic
Cultural Center in the Bronx is
accepting donations for the
families that can be sent
to:Magassa and Soumare Family
Fund.c/o Islamic Cultural
Center.371 East 166th
Street.Bronx, NY 10456 Phone:
(718) 293-4475.
E-mail:
Info@magassa-soumarefoundation.org
Website: http://
www.magassa-soumarefoundation.org
