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Alberta: A motel owned by a Sikh family was burned to a crisp last week, in a fire that destroyed their home killing one person and seriously injuring three others.
Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the fire, but discovery of racist graffiti on the property has them suspecting a crime of intolerance.
The incident
At around 1 am on Sunday, authorities were called in at a blazing Bashaw Motor Inn owned by the Tiwana family in Canada’s Alberta.
According to a report by Daily Sikh Updates, the blaze went on to engulf their home too, killing the father and critically injuring the mother and their two sons.
Fire crews retrieved a body from the debris and rushed three family members, who managed to escape, to the hospital with serious burns. The mother has now been discharged.
The family had been living in the town for six years.
Their neighbour Faisal Madi recounted to the CBC that he was watching TV in his home next door, when he felt and heard a huge blast. “I looked out the window and saw half the building on fire,” he said.
The 32-year-old volunteer firefighter then ran outside to help, and found the mother and their two sons outside the motel door. He remembered trying to pull them away from the burning building while the two boys screamed for their father, who was still inside.
“I wish I could have done more, but there was no way I could get through this fire,” he said.
Ongoing Investigations
Three days after the incident, police found racial slurs spray painted on a truck and a wall near the scene, but were unable to confirm if the motel itself was vanadalised too. They have not been able to identify any suspects so far.
They are also yet to confirm if the graffiti was related to the fire.
The remains of the motel are being treated as a crime scene, ‘until proven otherwise’. A number of officers have been posted at the scene, with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Major Crimes Unit assisting the investigation.
