All 17 victims of a horrific fire that tore through a Bronx apartment block have been named - as it was revealed four survivors including a baby remain on ventilators, and that multiple space heaters were to blame for the blaze.
The death toll, originally reported as 19, was revised downwards to 17 on Monday. All fatal victims died from smoke inhalation, a spokesperson for the city's medical examiner said.
Every member of a family of five were killed in the blaze. Haji Dukary, 49, his wife Haja Dukureh, 37, and children Mustafa Dukureh, 12, Mariam Dukureh, 11, and Fatoumata Dukureh, 5, perished in the tragedy.
Fatoumata Drammeh, 50, was killed in the fire along with her three children; daughters Fatoumala, 21, and Aisha, 19, and son Mohammed, 12.
The deaths of Hagi Jawara, 41, and wife Isatou Jabbie, 31, were confirmed Monday.
Forty-three year old Fatoumata Tunkara and her son Omar Jambang, 6, were also killed.
Twenty-seven-year-old Lehman College student Sera Janneh, 5-year-old Hawa Mahamadou, 12-year-old Seydou Toure and two year-old Ousmane Konteh were the sole members of their individual families to die on Sunday.
Meanwhile, cab driver Mohamed Kamra, 58, revealed her wife Fotoumatia Fofana, 30 and children Mariam, 8, Jabu, 6, Abubakary, 3, and ten-month-old Ceesay are connected to ventilators unable to breath on their own, because of smoke inhalation.
The death toll may rise in the upcoming days, officials have warned, if any of those seriously injured by the blaze succumb to their injuries. More than 70 victims are still hospitalized, 35 with life-threatening injuries.
Despite raised concerns by surviving residents that the heating in the complex was far from ideal, investigators have said heating was not an issue in the building.
Parents Haja Dukureh, 37, and Haji Dukuray, 49 and their children were killed in the fire
Fatoumata Drammeh (pictured), 50, was killed in the fire, her sister Koumba told DailyMail.com, who said that she and her family were 'such lovely people'. Her daughter Fatoumata, 21, pictured on the right, also died
Fatoumata's 12-year-old son Muhammad was the youngest member of the family to lose his life in the Bronx apartment building fire. Her daughter Aisha, 19, (pictured right) also died
The uncle of the Haja Dukureh, who bears the same name as her late husband, Haji Dukary, said his family was debating between burying the five members in New York or sending them to The Gambia.
Fifty-year-old Ishak, who was working in Ohio at the time of the fire, is the sole survivor of the Drammeh family.
Ishak said he was 'between sky and heaven,' after the loss of his wife of 28 years, hospital worker daughter Nyumaaisha, University of Buffalo student daughter Fatoumala and son Muhammed, who had turned twelve just a day before the fire.
'One day they are just gone and you will never see them again,' the grieving father told the New York Post. 'My children were lovely.'
The remains of Fatoumata Tunkara and her six-year-old son Omar will be send to The Gambia. They are survived by Tunkara's four other children, aged 9 to 19. A GoFundMe was created to help the surviving children.
Yusupha Jawara, whose brother Hagi and sister-in-law Isatou Jabbie died on Sunday, saw his dead brother in a gurney while he helped transport victims to the hospital after the fire.
'I was just helping the EMS transport one person to the hospital when I saw him - somebody similar like him - on a stretcher being brought to the ER,' Jawara said Tuesday as his family began making funeral plans for their loved ones. 'At that time, I didn't have the focus to know that it was him.'
Isatou Jabbie, 31, and husband Hagi Jawara, 41, were confirmed dead Monday after the Bronx apartment building fire by Jawara's brother Yusupha
Toure Seydou, 12, (left) and Mustafa Dukureh, 12, (right) died in the fire
Forty-three year old Fatoumata Tunkara(left) and her son Omar Jambang, 6, (not pictured) were killed, as well as Sarah Janneh, 27 (right)
The youngest victims, Omar Jambang, 6, Haouwa Mahamadou, 5, and Ousmane Konteh, 2, have not been pictured.
Hagi and Isatou leave behind four children, ages six to 15, who are visiting relatives in The Gambia and still don't know their parents perished.
Tijan Janneh, 64, told DailyMail.com on Tuesday about the terrifying moment he ventured outside the 6C apartment of the Twin Park North West complex and lost sight of his daughter Sera Janneh.
'She was a nice woman. She was very caring, helping - she listened to us,' the distraught father-of-seven said of his daughter.
Tijan said he
