A homeless man died after suffering severe burns when his sleeping bag caught fire as he slept on a Bradford street.
Muhammad Riaz, 57, known to his friends as Uncle, will be remembered at a church service tomorrow night, at the Bradford headquarters of the Walking Free charity, which helps people living on the streets.
He met church members through the Inn Churches Shelter Project, which provided emergency accommodation for homeless people throughout February.
The fire, which was not believed to be suspicious, happened in the early hours of last Saturday and Mr Riaz died two days later in hospital.
Inn Churches project co-ordinator Juli Thompson described Mr Riaz as “lovely”.
She said: “We didn’t know much about Uncle and in some ways he was like the unknown soldier, representative of other vulnerable people who are sleeping rough in Bradford and elsewhere.
“Members of the seven churches from the Inn Churches scheme had all got to know and love Uncle.
“He was so humbled and grateful to the volunteers on the scheme who looked after him.
“Of course we are very sad at the moment and we want to remember him with dignity. It makes us even more resolute in our efforts to help people like him.”
Mr Riaz’s body will be flown home to Pakistan, where he leaves a wife, son, daughter and grandchildren.
He had come to Britain to work as a chef to send money back to his family but an accident left him unable to work, leading to a chain of events which left him on the streets.
The remembrance service for Mr Riaz will be at the Walking Free building in Heap Lane, Bradford, at 6pm.
Inn Churches is looking to provide a winter shelter at the end of the year.
To help or for more information phone 07833 450482 or e-mail contact@walkingfree.org.
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