HALIFAX—Police are now confirming that seven children have died in a house fire in Halifax.Halifax Regional Police and Halifax Fire and Emergency were called to the blaze on Quartz Dr. in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.A man with life-threatening injuries and a woman with non-life threatening injuries were taken to hospital, a release issued on Tuesday morning said.“All deceased are believed to be young children from the same family. A woman and a man remain in hospital,” a second police statement said just before 11:30 a.m.In a Twitter post, @hrmfirenews wrote: “This is the largest loss of life in a fire in Halifax in a very long time. A very sad morning.”Area councillor Stephen Adams said in a phone interview Tuesday that the family living in the house were newcomers to Canada. The Ummah Masjid and Community Center said on Twitter that the impacted family was from Syria, and that seven kids and two parents lived inside. A neighbour said the family included seven children ranging in age from three months to 17-years-old.In a brief interview from the hospital, Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre in Halifax said the family was originally from Raqqa, Syria. The family has been in Canada almost two years, Yousri said, and originally settled in Elmsdale, north of Halifax. He said the funerals would likely be held Wednesday.“Everyone feels this. That subdivision, Spryfield, HRM as a whole,” Adams said in an interview.“Everybody’s touched by this and everyone will hurt for awhile.” Adams said he did not know the family personally, he said.He added he’s working with Mayor Mike Savage’s office and Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini to try and figure out where to go from here in terms of supporting the family who were impacted, Adams said.“The community is just itching to do something, to help out,” Adams said. He said he’s not sure what exa ...
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