SAJA Home | Roundup | Profiles | Membership | Mailing Lists | SAJA Awards | SAJA Stylebook

Dissecting American Media Now
An occasional look at South Asian stories (and South Asians) making front-page news
To participate in daily discussions about coverage, sign up the SAJA Mailing Lists

• THIS PAGE:
  June 24, 2002: Pakistani Family of 7 Dies in Brooklyn fire
  

Back to Dissecting American Media Now

BROOKLYN, June 24, 2002: The Nadeem family - Mohammed, 44; his wife, Yasmine, 30; and their daughters Ateka, 13; Romesa, 11; Bisma, 5; Nirna, 3; and Zanneb 9 months - were killed when a downstairs neighbor (and Yasmine's best friend) started a grease fire that spread upstrairs trapping the family.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who visited the scene blamed the fire on "carelessness." He said the neighbor, Muzamal Khawaja, "instead of calling 911 right away, tried to put out the fire herself. That wasted valuable time . . ."Then when she fled the apartment, she made the terrible mistake of leaving the door open." The Daily News reported that "fire officials said if Khawaja had closed her apartment door, the fire could have been contained and her neighbors very likely could have been saved."