Bodies of young siblings killed in NYC fire arrive in Israel

BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel -- The bodies of seven ultra-Orthodox Jewish siblings who died in the most fatal New York house fire in years arrived Monday in Israel for burial.

The bodies of the children from the Sassoon family, ages 5 to 16, were flown into Israel's international airport and whisked away by police escort in a convoy of cars toward a Jerusalem cemetery.

Their ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn was shattered by the fatal house fire believed to have been caused by a hot plate left on for the Sabbath. Investigators say the hot plate apparently malfunctioned, setting off flames that incinerated the stairs, trapping the children in their second-floor bedrooms as they slept.

The blaze killed three girls and four boys - all members of the neighborhood's tightknit community of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Both the mother and a daughter - Gayle Sassoon and 14-year-old Siporah Sassoon - remained in critical condition.

The tragedy had some reconsidering the practice of keeping hot plates on for the Sabbath, a common modern method of obeying tradition prohibiting the use of fire on the holy day.

The children will be buried later Monday in Jerusalem.

Alon Edri, who identified himself as a rabbi and relative of the family, said it was significant for the religious family to be buried in the Holy Land.

"We believe that being buried in Israel is important because all of your sins are then absolved," he said.

CBS New York reports that authorities identified the victims as girls Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; and Sara, 6; and boys David, 12; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakob, 5.

"The children were so lovely. Whenever it snowed they would clean my walk without even telling me. I would give them lollipops and they were so happy with the lollipops," neighbor Rose Insel said.

At their funerals Sunday, Gabriel Sassoon described his three daughters and four sons as "angels" who brought joy to his life.

"My children were unbelievable. They were the best," he said. "They were so pure."