Thousands of people have paid their respects to the victims of the tragic Bronx fire.
Nine children and six adults killed in the horror blaze were laid to rest in the mass funeral on Sunday.
Mourners filed past 15 caskets in the emotional ceremony, which took place at the Islamic Cultural Center, around two miles from the high-rise where the residents died.
Services for two more children who died in the fire were held at a Harlem mosque last week.
Nineteen people died in the "unprecedented" blaze , which was believed to be the worst fire in New York for 30 years.
More than 60 residents were also injured after the fire broke out inside the 19-storey apartment building.
Around 200 firefighters responded, with initial emergency calls made at 11am local time, according to the New York Fire Department (FDNY).
Those killed in the fire ranged between the ages of two and 50.
Imam Musa Kabba of the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah mosque, told the New York Post : “One week they were with us … now they’re gone”.
The Islamic Culture Centre was packed on Sunday with members of the tight-knit Gambian community that bore the brunt of the fire’s devastation.
Among the crowd on Sunday was Mayor Eric Adams, who listened as parts of the service were delivered in the West African language Soninke.
Adams was joined at the funeral by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, as well as two officials from the Gambian government.
“I am here to express the pain all New Yorkers are experiencing,” he said.
Outside on the street, hundreds of other people gathered amid freezing cold temperatures to watch the funeral on screens.
Haji Dukuray, who lost five family members in the fire, said that while it was a “sad situation”, “everything comes from God”.
“Tragedies always happen, we just thank Allah that we can all come together,” he said.
Organisers wanted the funeral to be a public event to shed light on the heartbreaking toll the tragedy has had on the community.
“There’s outcry. There’s injustice. There’s neglect,” Sheikh Musa Drammeh said of the incident.
Officials now believe the fire was caused by a malfunctioning space heater inside a third-floor duplex.
It sent thick and suffocating clouds of smoke swirling throughout the 19-story building in the Tremont section, which caused the victims to die of smoke inhalation.
Residents of the building have raised a number of issues with their landlords since the fire, claiming the fire alarms were faulty, heat was inconsistent and the building was poorly maintained.
Records show the building had been cited for more than two dozen violations and complaints — despite $25 million in state loans for repairs.
It had also been noted for serious safety lapses after a fire all the way back in 1986.
A repeated failure was the failure of landlords to maintain the building’s self-closing apartment doors - a key defense against rapidly spreading blazes and something the mayor has said could have saved many of the 17.
Dozens of people remain in hospital being treated for smoke inhalation, with some still on ventilators unable to breathe.
On Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged $2 million to support the survivors, while officials from city and state agencies have said they are investigating the fire.
Drammeh said he wanted the world to know that the victims died “because they lived in the Bronx”.
He said: "If they lived in Midtown Manhattan, they would not have died. Why?
“Because they wouldn’t need to use space heaters. This is a public outcry.
"Therefore, there has to be responsibility from the elected officials to change the conditions that causes death every single day.”
