3 members of Indian-origin family killed in New York fire
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Jun, 2022 10:54 AM
New York, June 20 (IANS) An Indian-origin couple and their son have been killed in a house fire in the city, according to media reports.
WPIX TV station reported that the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived there on Friday afternoon and found two bodies in a basement flat.
Firefighters found the third body the next day, it said.
The New York Post, quoting neighbours and relatives, identified the couple as Nanda Balo Persaud and Bono Salima 'Sally' Persaud.
The body of their son Devon Persaud, 22, was found only the next day.
The incident was classified by officials as a "five-alarm fire" which spread to four other houses fanned by strong wind gusts, WPIX reported.
It reported that 29 adults and 13 children from nine families were affected by the fire while many firefighters were injured.
New York Post said that according to the relatives, Nanda Persaud retired from a company that makes medicines while his wife worked at the JFK Airport.
An online fundraiser for the family on Gofundme raised $34.923 from 429 donations as of Monday morning.
Salima Persaud's cousin Abid Ali, who organised the fundraiser, wrote, "They were a family who worked hard and came from a humble background."
"They were always so welcoming, treated everyone like family, and always tried their best to put a smile on everyone's faces," he wrote.
According to him, many of their family members are in Guyana.
Their house is located in the city's Queens borough in a neighbourhood with many families of Indian descent who immigrated from Guyana.
The UNHCR will discuss resettlement options with countries like Canada at a later stage, but Jamous says typically the demand from people looking for a new home far outstrips the opportunities offered by governments.
Many countries, including the US, the UK and EU member states, have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its military operation in Ukraine. Earlier, Putin had placed the country's nuclear deterrent forces on "special" alert on Sunday
Red and orange crosshairs have been painted onto various structures in the capital, including several high-rise buildings, with certain symbols only visible under UV light.
"The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) institute and the Sindhi community as well as the Gurudwara in Poland have come forward to help the stranded students as well as Indians evacuated from Ukraine," Patel said.
While requesting foreign partners to exert pressure on the Russian President to stop the war, Polikha said that air space of Europe was closed for the Russian airplanes. The Russian economy is going down every day. Russia is having absolutely unprecedented casualties. Approximately 5,300 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in the ongoing tussle, he claimed.
