"They couldn't tell me, but I knew something was wrong," he said. Unable to make sense of the call, Magassa phoned his brother in the Bronx, who relayed the tragic news involving his family. Friday he prayed side-by-side in a Bronx mosque with Mamadou Soumare, who lost his wife and three of his four children.
The families of Magassa and Soumare shared the Woodycrest Avenue home that was gutted by a fire that officials said was started by an overheated space heater cord. On Friday, the fathers shared grief. Hundreds of worshipers filled the Islamic Cultural Center to grieve with them.
With no room inside, prayer rugs had to be laid outside for about two dozen people who took off their shoes in the cold. "Everyone is crying for them," said Imam Mousa Kabba, who gave the sermon. "New York is crying for them.
All of America is crying for them." Magassa said he had planned to bring his children to Mali this summer as some had never met their West African relatives. Magassa said he had been visiting as an escort to a blind man.
On Friday, the only plans that could be made were for a funeral and burials. For about 20 minutes, Magassa sat cross-legged in the imam's office discussing plans for a service for all nine victims at the mosque Monday afternoon. Faith, he said, would help him through his grief.
It would help him be strong for the survivors. At the mosque, he received offers of condolences from fellow Muslims, African diplomats and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Magassa was even the one to offer support to a friend who came to him with tears flowing.
The grieving father put his arm around the crying man. Magassa left the mosque to shuttle between Jacobi Medical Center and Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, where two of his surviving children remained. His 7-year-old daughter suffered severe smoke inhalation and was on a ventilator at Jacobi.
At Lincoln Friday afternoon, a 24-year-old and Magassa's 5-year-old daughter were in stable condition. Soumare's 7-year-old, who had been in stable condition earlier in the day, was later listed as critical. Amid the grief, city officials tried to focus on preventing other similar tragedies.
Because the home's smoke detectors had no batteries, the mayor and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta announced that the Fire Department will distribute more than 100,000 free batteries for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the five boroughs in the next few days. Building officials yesterday said Magassa's Feb. 9 application to convert the five-bedroom home to three apartments had been going through a normal review process when it was stalled.
Kate Lindquist, a spokeswoman for the buildings department, said the plans included "some administrative errors and serious inconsistencies" between what the application sought and what its illustrations depicted. It was suspended Feb. 16 until the applicant corrected the problems.
For instance, Lindquist said, the application stated there would be sprinklers, but the drawings did not show where and how they would be installed. John Ellis, the Brooklyn-based architect for the planned renovation, said Friday that his company sought to review his case but was told he could not see it. The buildings department said Ellis couldn't have his file back until they completed their investigation.
In the reeling neighborhood Friday, schoolchildren shared stories about the friends they lost. On his way to school, Robert Ortego, 10, stopped at a vigil at a shuttered grocery store and talked about having one of the boys in his fifth-grade class. "His mom told me they came from West Africa to get a better education," Robert said.
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