7-year-old girl becomes 10th victim of deadly New York fire

A 7-year-old girl died Friday night after a two-day fight for her life, becoming the 10th victim of a devastating fire that claimed eight other children and one adult.

Asimi Soumare became the fourth child in her family to die in the fire that also killed her mother, said a family spokesman, Sheikh Moussa Drammeh. The fire was New York City's deadliest in almost 20 years.

Mamadou Soumare, an immigrant from Mali who received a frantic call from his doomed wife, Fatoumata, on the night of the fire Wednesday, has now lost all of his immediate family.

Word of the latest death came just two days before Monday's funeral of the other nine victims _ three of Asimi's siblings, her mother and five cousins. The five cousins belonged to the family of Moussa Magassa, which shared the three-story home with the Soumares.

The girl's death was attributed to complications due to smoke inhalation, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner.

Three family members remained in hospitals Saturday with injuries. A 6-year-old girl remained in critical condition. A 5-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman were in stable condition. The woman had two broken legs after jumping from an upper floor.

A space heater in the basement ignited the fast-moving blaze, which trapped its victims on the upper floors, and two children were thrown to rescuers through broken glass in upstairs windows. A baby also thrown outside hit the ground and died.

Soumare, after a frantic cell phone call from his wife as he drove a cab, watched helplessly from the street. Magassa got word of the fire while visiting Africa.

Magassa and Soumare met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's ambassador to the United States, for a prayer service Friday.

Like many immigrants, Magassa and Soumare "came to the United States to pursue the great American dream," Bloomberg said. "And (they) now find themselves sharing a great American tragedy with us."

The Malian community collected more than $21,000 (euro15,963) to help the families, said Cheick Sidi Diarra, Mali's ambassador to the United Nations. Bloomberg said the city had offered financial and other assistance.

Victims' bodies were ritually washed and wrapped in white cotton Saturday in preparation for the Muslim burial. George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees baseball team, volunteered to pay for the funerals, including the cost of flying the bodies to Africa.