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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Leicester house fire deaths: Thousands attend service | Leicester house fire deaths: Thousands attend service |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Thousands of mourners have attended a prayer service for a mother and her three children who perished in a house fire in Leicester. | Thousands of mourners have attended a prayer service for a mother and her three children who perished in a house fire in Leicester. |
| Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her daughter Zainab, 19, and two sons, Bilal, 17, and 15-year-old Jamal, died after their home was set alight on 13 September. | Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her daughter Zainab, 19, and two sons, Bilal, 17, and 15-year-old Jamal, died after their home was set alight on 13 September. |
| Husband and father of the victims, Dr Muhammad Taufiq Al Sattar, told the gathering in Spinney Hill Park: "It's a sad day, my heart is crying." | Husband and father of the victims, Dr Muhammad Taufiq Al Sattar, told the gathering in Spinney Hill Park: "It's a sad day, my heart is crying." |
| Eight men are charged with murder. | |
| The eighth suspect, a 22-year-old man, is due to appear before Leicester Magistrates' Court on Friday, after being charged by police earlier. | |
| At the service Dr Taufiq, a Dublin-based neurosurgeon, thanked everyone for their support. | |
| He said: "I know our hearts are breaking but all the brothers and sisters are with me, everybody from Leicester from all denominations, outside Leicester and throughout the world. | He said: "I know our hearts are breaking but all the brothers and sisters are with me, everybody from Leicester from all denominations, outside Leicester and throughout the world. |
| Following the service, as private ambulances carried the coffins of his loved ones away, he told reporters: "I cried a few times today carrying the coffins of my family, [but] I am going to continue the work my wife and my children have left for me." | |
| He added his faith had given him the strength to carry on. | |
| Local dignitaries, including police and crime commissioner Sir Clive Loader and the Venerable Dr Tim Stratford, archdeacon of Leicester, attended the service. | Local dignitaries, including police and crime commissioner Sir Clive Loader and the Venerable Dr Tim Stratford, archdeacon of Leicester, attended the service. |
| Dr Stratford said: "There is always a danger that violence and hate divide but today we see the people of Leicester reaching out together." | Dr Stratford said: "There is always a danger that violence and hate divide but today we see the people of Leicester reaching out together." |
| Ch Supt Rob Nixon, of Leicestershire Police, described the deaths as a "tragic incident" which had "a very significant impact on the local community". | |
| "To see so many people coming together with a common purpose to pay their respects is actually quite overwhelming," he added. | |
| The bodies will now travel by ferry to Dublin for burial on Saturday. | The bodies will now travel by ferry to Dublin for burial on Saturday. |