HALIFAX—They escaped the battleground of Raqqa, Syria for the safety of Canada, but the Barho family could not outrun tragedy.

Ebraheim and Kawthar Barho came from a city that was reduced to rubble in the deadly Syrian civil war, a place that was bombed mercilessly by U.S.-led forces trying to eradicate Daesh.

They found their saviours 8,000 kilometres away in Nova Scotia, where the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team Society, or HEART, waited two years to privately sponsor the family and their six children to Canada.

The Barhos arrived in September 2017 to a welcoming committee at the Halifax airport. They settled in to Elmsdale, just north of Halifax, where the family was embraced with open arms.

“For the past year and a half, the children have been able to enjoy life as kids should be able to: going to school, riding bicycles, swimming, having friends, running in the yard, celebrating birthday parties and hanging out with the neighbours on their porch swing,” said a Facebook post from the HEART Society.









They moved into a new, two-storey house in Spryfield in October 2018, where the growing family — baby Abdullah was just four months old — had three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.

The Barhos were a week away from moving back to Elmsdale, a community of about 3,000, where they felt “so welcome and happy,” according to the HEART Society.

On Tuesday, the family’s dreams of a better life in Canada died with the seven Barho children, who perished in the deadliest house fire in recent Halifax history. Their parents escaped the blaze, but Ebraheim was critically injured trying in vain to rescue his children.

A Facebook page for the Kearney Lake mosque said he was in surgery and Kawthar is “OK, but emotionally broken.”

Another Facebook post from the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre identified the dead children as Abdullah, 4 months, Rana, 3, Hala, 4, Ghala, 8, Mohammed, 10, Rola, 12, and Ahmed, 15.

Pictures posted to the site show a newborn baby swaddled what looks like a hospital blanket, as well as two school-aged children with backpacks on, smiling on a sidewalk.

“They loved every minute of it, and it seems impossible we won’t hear their laughter and feel their hugs again,” HEART said of the children’s life in Canada.

On Tuesday afternoon, the house was a burned-out shell in the back, the roof was gone and the windows in the second-floor master bedroom were smashed out and blackened around the sills.

A basketball and pair of black shoes could be seen outside the front of the home. A large pink plastic toy was among items visible in the open garage.

The tragic deaths have galvanized a heartbroken city, prompting an outpouring of grief and donations.

By Tuesday evening, two separate fundraising accounts had more than $33,000 in them, including a GoFundMe, which had raised more than $25,000 in five hours. HEART’s campaign had raised $8,000 in its first hours.

“I think the whole municipality is now feeling the pain. And most of us in this room are parents and can’t imagine what’s going on,” Halifax deputy mayor Tony Mancini told reporters during a media briefing at Halifax Regional Police Headquarters Tuesday afternoon.

He offered thoughts and prayers to the family, to the community, and to first responders.

“This is a very, very difficult day for our municipality,” Mancini said.

In a brief interview from the hospital, Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque said the funerals would likely be held at Ummah on Wednesday or Thursday.

Deputy fire chief Dave Meldrum told reporters they received multiple calls about a house on fire on Quartz Dr. at 12:41 a.m. Tuesday.

“Upon arrival our firefighters encountered heavy fire on the first and second floors of the home. They immediately took hose lines into the house, but they encountered very heavy and dangerous fire conditions,” Meldrum said.

“Once this fire was contained, sadly our firefighters discovered multiple fatalities in the home.”

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Meldrum said it took less than an hour to knock down the fire. When asked about possible causes or where the fire might have started, Meldrum said it would be “completely inappropriate” to speculate on a cause since the fire investigation is in early stages.

He said it was the largest loss of life the fire services has ever seen “in our memory.”

A woman who described herself as a neighbour, but didn’t want to be identified, told The Canadian Press that she awoke to “horrible screams.”

“Then we got up and saw the flames,” she said. “We called 911 but it took a long time to get through, because apparently everyone was calling 911 at the same time.”

The woman heard men yelling and saw a woman in distress in the street. Her husband said a police officer was either trying to hold the woman back or comfort her, saying it wasn’t clear what was happening.

Danielle Burt, who lives next door on Quartz Drive in Spryfield, heard a loud bang and a woman screaming just after 12:30 a.m.

She fled the house with her four children and saw the parents outside in a harrowing scene.

“The mother was on the grass, praying I guess, bowing her hands down, and pulling on my husband’s arm to call 911,” she said, becoming emotional.

“She said the kids were inside and the dad was sitting on the steps. I think he had gone back in because he was really burnt. It was just awful.”

Area councillor Stephen Adams choked back tears as he talked about the tragedy.

“It’s killing me. This morning I learned about it when I got an email from the fire chief and I had tears. I do now, I know. Seven children. Seven,” Adams said in an interview, breathing deeply before he could continue.

Though Adams doesn’t know the family personally, he’s working with Mayor Mike Savage’s office and Deputy Mayor Mancini to figure out how to support the family.

“That subdivision, the community of Spryfield and really all of our municipality is hurting from this. The community really does want to help,” Adams said. “All I want to ask of people is to please just pray.”

Allan Julian lives several streets away on River Rd. When he heard multiple sirens around 1 a.m., he went for a drive.

“When I came down, the flames were like 20 feet up in the air … I actually have seven kids myself. Does this ever hit close to home,” Julian said.

“I shed tears this morning just reading some of the (Facebook) posts ... I’m going to come down later and bring a few bears down in memory of those children and set them down by the telephone pole or nearby.”

The Barho family is among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years, including 345 privately sponsored refugees. The family were clients with the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) and took part in their language and settlement services, CEO Jennifer Watts said in an interview.

“We’re just heartbroken. Almost in disbelief this has happened to this family,” Watts said.

The tragedy has definitely been “a shock” for those who know took part in ISANS programs with the Bahro family, as well as staff.

ISANS cancelled some classes on Tuesday and a few staff members went home. Watts had begun gathering support services from around Halifax for those who would like to talk.

ISANS already offers general mental-health programs and wellness groups to those dealing with stressful situations, Watts said, as they often deal with refugees who’ve had traumatic experiences.

They also have staff trained in mental health first aid and early crisis counselling and that will be in place for people.

For Nova Scotians wondering what they can do, Watts suggested reaching out the newcomers in their communities and showing what it means to be a good neighbour.

“It will be very hard for many people who have come here, in some circumstances leaving all their family and friends back home … and it will be a very fragile time for many people,” Watts said.

“Make those connections to build kind of a social support and a social fabric in our communities so that when these terrible, awful things happen ... there’s a wider community net there to support people.”

With files from Canadian Press, Haley Ryan and Zane Woodford

Yvette d’Entremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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