Seven siblings of an Orthodox Jewish family were killed on Saturday, March 21, 2015 due to house a fire. The fire spread through their Brooklyn home after they were in bed around midnight. Firefighters think is was caused by a broken hot plate left on for Sabbath.
The fire killed three girls and four boys aged 5 to 16. The mother and sister narrowly escaped and are in critical condition. Some Orthodox Jews do not use electricity on Sabbath, to keep the day holy. Therefore, some families leave the hot plate on without violating any religious traditions.
Police identified the victims of the Sassoon family girls: Eliane, 16, Rivkah, 11 and Sara, 6 and boys: David, 12, Yeshua, 10, Moshe, 8 and Yaakob, 5. The father was at a conference at the time.
The home in Midwood, is part of a Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish population.
Firefighters were on the scene in four minutes after the 911 call. The mother Gayle Sassoon, 45, and her 15-year-old daughter jumped from second-floor windows. (Image shared from katenews2day/
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