Friends and family gathered to say goodbye to the mother and daughter who perished in last week’s deadly gas explosion in East Harlem that killed six other people.
A closed casket wake was held for Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21 and her mom Rosaura Barrios-Vazquez, 44, at R.G. Ortiz Funeral just blocks from their Park Avenue home that no longer exists.
“She was my best friend,” said Bianca Rivera, 20, a friend of the aspiring chef. “When I heard, I couldn’t stop crying. I can only imagine what her father must be going through. That was his family. That was his little girl.”
Hernandez-Barrios was a talented cook who was pursuing her dreams as a culinary arts student and worked at the posh Triomphe Restaurant at the Iroquois Hotel in Midtown.
“She was a great cook. If you ever tried her meals, they were fantastic,” Rivera said.
The two caskets sat side by side covered with white sheets and crosses resting on each one as two portraits hung above and mourners tearfully bid them farewell.
East Harlem resident Lydia Trochee, 53, said she didn’t know the family personally, but felt compelled to come pay her respects.
“I belong to the community and anyone with a heart should be concerned,” she said. “It’s very sad to see a family lose two people. The husband must be devastated. We’re just praying for the recovery of the son.
In addition to burying his wife and daughter, Cecilio Hernandez is left to care for his 15-year-old son Oscar, who suffered severe injuries in the blast and remains hooked to a feeding tube at Harlem Hospital.
“He’s hanging in there,” Hernandez said earlier Wednesday while sitting beside his son’s hospital bed. “He didn’t sleep at all last night. He had surgery on his legs yesterday.”
Both women will be sent back to their native Mexico where they will be buried.