Body found in Tyndall Park house fire identified

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This article was published 10/08/2023 (782 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man found dead after a house fire in the Tyndall Park neighbourhood has been identified as a member of Winnipeg’s Islamic community.

On Aug. 3, the body of Mohammed Waqas Arain, 38, was located inside a burning home on the first 100 block of Ellington Street.

The Manitoba Islamic Association announced his death in a newsletter to community members Thursday.

“Brother Mohammed Waqas Arain will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered,” the email says. “Mohammed loved to read, cook and had a passion for helping others.”

The association was incorporated in 1969, and describes itself as “the oldest and largest membership-based Islamic organization in Manitoba.”

City of Winnipeg crews were sent to the home at around 11:45 p.m. Crews attacking the blaze from inside found a man’s body, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release last week.

The blaze was declared under control at about 12:35 a.m. Aug. 4. The cause was under investigation, it said at the time.

WFPS did not provide details regarding the man’s cause of death, nor say whether it was related to the fire.

The service had no further details to provide Thursday, directing requests for comment to the Winnipeg Police Service.

WPS offered a similar response, saying the fire investigation is ongoing, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is tasked with determining the cause of death.

A review of tax records show the home is registered to Arain’s parents. They were not home Thursday afternoon.

Evidence of the fire remained, with a large hose still attached to a nearby hydrant and scorch marks on the home’s exterior walls.

Contractors from an electrical service company were working on the property.

Arain is survived by his parents, three siblings and extended family, the Islamic association notice said. “May Allah shower him with mercy and forgiveness and grant him paradise, ameen.”

The association assists its members in making funeral arrangements. Arain’s funeral will be held Friday at the Winnipeg Grand Mosque (2445 Waverley St.), it said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca