Loved ones of those killed in last week’s tragic Bronx fire shed tears and vented anger Monday, demanding “accountability” from the mom whose toddler touched off the deadly blaze.
About 50 mourners prayed and lit candles at a vigil outside fire-gutted 2363 Prospect Ave., where 12 people perished Thursday in the city’s deadliest blaze in more than a quarter-century.
The fire was started by a 3½-year-old boy who was left alone and played with the knobs on the stove, investigators have said.
The boy had a history of playing with the burners.
“I want the mother and the father to be responsible because the mother is an irresponsible parent,” said Kadian Blake, whose cousin Karen Stewart was among four people in one family to die in the fire.
“There needs to be accountability.”
Blake, 32, said the boy was known to wander outside the building because his mom would haphazardly leave the door open and lose sight of him.
“I’m trying to hold on,” said Beverly Chin, Stewart’s heartbroken 63-year-old aunt.
“You have to have anger. You just cannot grip it. It’s hard. It’s hard.”
The Rev. Jonathan Morris, pastor at nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, told mourners he didn’t have an answer for the nightmare.
He urged loved ones to lean on their faith.
“What an amazing witness you have, as a family, given to the world that you are united in the midst of an unspeakable tragedy,” Morris told mourners who braved Monday’s frigid cold to honor victims.
“You are showing each other the very love and tenderness of God. We all pray for you. We pray for each other.”
Additional reporting by David K. Li