By Journal Staff
Three young women with ties to the Revere community were found dead in a Belize resort over the weekend.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, authorities were called to the scene at Royal Kahal Resort on Coconut Drive in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye after there were reports of three unresponsive individuals, according to Belize news sources.
The cause of death remains under investigation, according to the sources.
The women were later identified by Belize authorities as Imane Mallah, 24; Wafae El-Arar, 26; and Kaoutar Naqqad, 23. Two of the Moroccan natives lived in Revere and one in Malden, according to Ward 2 City Councillor Ira Novoselsky, who called for a moment of silence for the three women at the beginning of Monday night’s council meeting.
“This past weekend, we had a tragic loss of three young ladies … they were on vacation in Belize and they were found in their hotel room deceased,” said Novoselsky. “One of the young ladies was actually a tenant who lived in my house, so it really hits me close, and one of the other young ladies lived on Fenley Street. It is devastating for the family; they were three Moroccan girls going into the medical field and going to Salem State College.
“There are no details on what happened, and we don’t know when they are coming home,” said Novoselsky.
Both the City of Revere’s Facebook page and the Alhuda Society, which assists Muslims in the Greater Boston area, linked to GoFundMe pages to assist with the funeral, burial, and transportation costs for the three young women.
The GoFundMe pages can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-kaoutar-funeral-fund, https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-the-burden-for-wafae-el-arars-family, and https://www.gofundme.com/f/ndaaa-ab-mfgoaa-llmsaaad-fy-tkalyf-gnaz-abnth.
Novoselsky said both Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Katherine Clark have been working to ensure that the bodies of the three women come home from Belize together.
“They went together, and they should be coming home together,” he said.
In addition to condolences from the City of Revere, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, First Lady Stacy DeMaria, and their family offered their condolences to the families.
