FOG BLOG CANADIAN NEWS LOG: FUNERAL AND MEMORIALS FOR LONDON MUSLIM FAMILY:

Outpouring of grief, support at funeral for London, Ont., family killed in truck attack.....A family whose neighbours and friends described them as “the best people in our community” and who were killed last Sunday evening in what police said was a hate-motivated attack in London, Ont., were laid to rest Saturday as their deaths continued to spark calls for action to end anti-Muslim hate.

More than 1,000 people gathered for a public memorial service honouring Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter Yumna — four members of a Muslim family killed when a man veered a truck onto a sidewalk and struck them.

Salman and Madiha’s nine-year-old Fayez was seriously injured.

Speaking to the crowd, Dr. Ali Islam, Madiha Salman’s uncle, said the support his family has received has been “a first step toward finding a way to heal” as they grapple with sleepless nights, survivor’s guilt and unimaginable grief.

“The outpouring of support we have received from Canadians and from across the world has confirmed the potential of absolute innate goodness inside humankind, irrespective of colour and creed,” Islam said...“As this week has progressed, we realized that our extended family was much larger than we could have ever imagined. Many people have asked us what they can do to help: I ask you to be examples of love and compassion. I ask you to take the time to learn from someone who doesn’t look the same as you.”

At the schools and workplaces where the family members worked and studied, “there are hundreds of lucky people who felt the gentle unassuming characters of our loved ones,” Islam said.

Salman Afzaal was a physiotherapist who worked at care homes for seniors, an avid gardener and a man who friends said believed in the good in people.