Denver police on Tuesday showed a surveillance photo of three people in full face masks suspected of starting a house fire that killed five family members, including a child and a 2-year-old.
The August 5 fire killed Djibril Diol, 29, and Adja Diol, 23, and their 2-year-old daughter, Khadija, as well as Djibril’s sister, Hassan Diol, 25, and their foster daughter, Hawa Baye, according to NBC Denver branch KUSA.
Three people who were also inside the house at the time of the blaze were able to escape by jumping from the second floor, KUSA reported.
“The fire appeared to have been deliberately set by three unknown individuals wearing dark hoodies and full-face masks, who fled the area in a dark-colored 4-door sedan,” police wrote in a statement to help asking to identify the persons.
A reward of $ 14,000 is offered for information that could lead to the suspects.
The victims were members of Denver’s Senegalese community, and local and national Muslim leaders called on police last week to investigate the fire as a hate crime, according to Religion News Service
“This loss has left an enormous void in our Colorado Muslim community,” the Colorado Muslim Leadership Council said in a statement. “We call on the Denver Police and Denver Fire Department to expedite their arson investigation and bring those responsible to justice.
At a press conference days after the fire, Moussa Diol, a family member, pleaded for answers.
“Just help get this resolved, because this is just doing a lot, losing your family, your whole family at once,” he said, KUSA reported.
Djibril Diol immigrated from Senegal several years ago, according to Religion News Service.
A GoFundMe for the family described him as “a young man with a promising future” in civil engineering who “has left behind a community he so deeply loved and cared for.” He was working on a project that reconstructed part of Interstate 70 in the Denver area, according to KUSA.
The Senegalese consul general flew to Denver from New York after the fire at the request of the leader of his country to meet with the families of the victims, according to The Associated Press. The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, tweeted his condolences to the family.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also offered his condolences and met with the family in early August. “You have to best believe that this is something that none of us in this city or this state as in this nation should stand for,” he said, the AP reported.
