Charity offers financial aid to Sharjah family who lost relatives in fire

Sharjah Charity International pays hotel costs for homeless Pakistani family after mother and son death

Overcrowding and the careless storage of goods is to blame for countless fires, officials said. Pictured is the aftermath of a blaze in the Maysaloon neighbourhood of Sharjah in 2018. Reem Mohammed / Show more

A family that lost a mother and child in a fire in Sharjah has been offered financial support to deal with their homeless crisis.

The Sharjah Charity International answered a call for aid from the family whose house was destroyed in a blaze that killed a 43-year-old Pakistani woman and her seven-year-old son.

The surviving family, her husband, nine-year-old son and eight other family members have been offered an unspecified amount of financial support to help them find alternative accommodation.

“Financial aid was offered to the family to cover their daily needs,” said Abdullah Sultan bin Khadim, executive director of SCI.

“Our research teams clarified that the family was already listed under eligible cases for help, and had already received assistance previously to secure their basic living needs and preserve their dignity.

“Ever since its founding nearly three decades ago, Sharjah Charity International has been dedicated to helping everyone in need and is committed to its mission of humanitarian and charitable work.

“It works to support cases of this kind until their ordeal is over.”

The family has been provided with temporary accommodation in a hotel apartment in Sharjah until procedures of renting and furnishing an alternative home are completed.

Fire crews were called to the incident in the Maysaloon area of Sharjah on Monday night to a building inhabited by more than 60 people.

The house had been split into sublet units, with 64 people suffering injuries in total.

The incident has shone a light on overcrowding in illegal properties in Sharjah.

Inspections on safe living arrangements are carried out by Sharjah Municipality, that has powers to disconnect utilities and pursue legal action against those breaching safe housing regulations.

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Sharjah fire: Dozens lived in cramped house where woman and child died

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