The dead who have yet to be laid to rest also include a two-year-old boy, a mother who died with three of her children, and a husband and wife whose four children are now orphans.
Alhagie Ebou Cham, the president of the United Gambians Association and an honorary consul for Gambia, said that his government was ready to assist in any way it could, including repatriation of the deceased if families so choose.
The medical examiner’s office said that all the victims suffocated from the thick smoke that poured out of a third-floor apartment, where officials say a malfunctioning electrical space heater sparked the fire.
Many people escaped the 19-storey building, but others died as they tried to make their way down the smoke-choked stairs.
Difficulties in identifying the dead and contacting their next of kin complicated making funeral plans, as did the sheer number of victims, Kabba said.
Outside the apartment building, passers-by stopped at a makeshift memorial with flowers and photos of the people who perished and some of those still in hospitals.
While families of those who died planned burials, community activists pleaded for more help for survivors of the blaze. Some have been having trouble getting services or getting what they need, particularly cash, the advocates said at a news conference.
Multiple entities have been raising money for those affected by the fire. It takes time to set up a system to distribute money equitably, said Salim Drammeh of the Gambian Youth Organization, a Bronx-based group that has raised more than US$1 million through an online campaign.
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