Devastated friends and relatives of a family who perished in a tragic Chelsea apartment blaze said their sad farewells at a teary service yesterday.
Wakes were held for Delkis Balbuena, 34, and her daughters, Nancy, 8, Bet-el, 2, and Ruth, 15 months, at the Ortiz Funeral Home in Washington Heights, after they perished a week ago in a furious fire that ripped through their home on West 18th Street.
Dressed in white gowns and veils, the bodies of the children – including Balbeuna’s son, Jonzan, 10, who was taken off life support Thursday – lay beside their mother as close to 100 mourners, including police officers and teachers, paid their respects.
The children’s father, and Balbuena’s estranged husband, Maschay Valdez, 40, who also died in the blaze, will be mourned in a separate service in Chinatown.