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Bodies of siblings killed in New York fire arrive in Israel

A woman is consoled as others cry as vehicles carrying the remains of the seven siblings killed in a house fire depart after funeral services, Sunday, March 22, 2015, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The siblings, ages 5 to 16, died early Saturday when flames engulfed the Sassoon family home in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. Investigators believe a hot plate left on a kitchen counter set off the fire that trapped the children and badly injured their mother and another sibling. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) A woman is consoled as others cry as vehicles carrying the remains of the seven siblings killed in a house fire depart after funeral services, Sunday, March 22, 2015, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The siblings, ages 5 to 16, died early Saturday when flames engulfed the Sassoon family home in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. Investigators believe a hot plate left on a kitchen counter set off the fire that trapped the children and badly injured their mother and another sibling. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

By Associated Press March 23, 2015 1 min read

BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel (AP) – The bodies of seven ultra-Orthodox Jewish siblings who died in a fire in their Brooklyn home have arrived in Israel for burial.

The bodies of the children from the Sassoon family, ages 5 to 16, were being taken to Jerusalem Monday for burial. Their ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn was shattered by the fatal house fire believed to have been caused by a hot plate left on for the Sabbath.

Investigators say the Sassoons’ hot plate apparently malfunctioned, setting off flames that incinerated the stairs, trapping the children in their second-floor bedrooms as they slept.

Both the mother and a daughter – Gayle Sassoon and 14-year-old Siporah Sassoon – remained in critical condition.