ISLAMIC INSTITUTE IN SOUTHEAST HOUSTON CATCHES FIRE

HOUSTON (KTRK) –A fire broke out at an Islamic community and education center in Houston early this morning.

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Members of the Quba Islamic Institute stood watching federal investigators looking for clues, trying to find out how a fire started here in the hour before sunrise.

“I showed them the pictures and they started crying because they come here every day,” said Hala Saadeh, who uses the community center.

Flames ate away at a building on the back of the property, which members tell us was only used for storage.

“The damage on the back building is total,” said Houston Fire Department district chief Ken Tyner. “The whole entire building back there is burned up.”

The mosque and school at the front of the property were intact, but people who use them are feeling a sense of anxiety.

“The first thing we think about is hate crimes that could go on,” said Saadeh. “It says right on the front — Islamic Institute. We’re not hiding ourselves.”

Imam Zahid Abdullah says just Wednesday morning, he saw a suspicious man walking on the property, and then last night…

“My son was passing by here and somebody was sitting here in a white Ram, making mockery, chanting,” said Abdullah.

Still, each person we talked to says they want to hear what investigators find in that damaged building.

“We don’t want to blame anyone,” said Saadeh. “We want a full investigation of what is going on.”

At this point, a cause of the fire is not known.

SourceL UStoday