By Canadian Press

Relatives arriving in N.S. to support mother and father of seven fire victims

Feb 25, 2019 | 2:12 PM

HALIFAX — Several family members of the mother of seven children who died in a fast-moving house fire are arriving in Halifax today to bring support to their grieving relative.

Andy Fillmore, a Halifax MP, said in a news release that “in difficult times, it is family that brings the greatest comfort.”

The family members are entering Halifax with visitors’ visas to assist Kawthar Barho and her severely burned spouse, Ebraheim Barho.

Kawthar had asked federal officials last week to assist her in bringing family members to Canada to support her, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters during a visit to Halifax that his government was working to expedite the visas.

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A spokeswoman for the private sponsorship group assisting the family said the names of the family members and their relationship to the mother wouldn’t be released at this time.

The news of the arrival of family members comes after a massive turnout at a funeral for the seven victims of the fire.

More than 2,000 people showed up to the service at a waterfront hall on Saturday, which was held in memory of the Barho children who died in the early hours of Feb. 19 when the blaze moved rapidly through their home.

The Barhos arrived in Nova Scotia in September 2017 as refugees from war-torn Syria, among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years.

On Saturday, as the seven small caskets were brought on stage, their mother could be heard sobbing.

Many others also cried as the children’s names were read: teenager Ahmad; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2; and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9.

A local imam said the service was made public so the children’s mother could see firsthand that the community is standing behind her.

The father continues to recover from extensive burns.

He underwent an operation on Monday but the family and the private support group has decided not to share information about how he fared.

When they first arrived in Nova Scotia, the Barho family lived in Elmsdale, a 30-minute drive north of Halifax, where they were embraced by the local community.

They later moved to the Halifax suburb of Spryfield to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services, but had planned to return to Elmsdale next month.

The cause of the blaze in their Spryfield home remains unclear.

The response to the tragedy has been swift and impassioned: several businesses have donated their profits to the Barho family, and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised to assist the couple.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press