Standing over a pool of blood and scattered flip-flops, Siapha Kiazolu stared numbly at the woollen hat in his hands. Eight days earlier his wife, Maima, had given birth to a baby girl, he said. Declan Walsh reports from Monrovia.
Yesterday morning Maima died, killed by a mortar as she washed herself outside.
A small crater showed Siapha where the rocket slammed into the dirt. The jagged holes of his wife's hat told him how she died. "It hit her in the head," he mumbled. Then he turned away in grief, clutched his sides, and let out a long, desperate cry.
Another day, another death, in Liberia's blood-soaked capital, Monrovia.
Yesterday's shelling - the seventh day of battle - started just after dawn. As ever, it was impossible to guess what the gunmen were targeting. Several mortars splashed into the sea. One hit rocky ground inside the US embassy compound. None, as far as was known, hit a military target.
What was known was the civilian casualties - at least 12 dead and more than 100 injured. One round struck outside the door of a Médecins Sans Frontières clinic, killing three, including two young girls brushing their teeth.
Another crashed into the yard of Newport Junior High, the cramped school where Siapha Kiazolu and his wife had been sheltering. Seven died on the spot, another perished on the way to hospital.
Yesterday, US and regional leaders promised to send soldiers to Liberia within a week. But that assistance will come too late for some.
"One week is like one million years to us," said Benedict Gray, standing over the line of bodybags. "We have been deserted by the whole world."
A burst of gunfire crackled in the street outside. Inside, terrified families piled into the classrooms and corridors, huddling from another possible attack. "Nobody slept last night," said Alfred Tucker, gripping a bible in his hand.
"Normally I'm a heavy duty mechanic. But this is the time to pray."
Both rebels and government accuse each other of shelling civilians; however aid workers and diplomats attribute the most recent attacks to the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy rebels (LURD).
Yesterday evening, the LURD military command said it had ordered its troops to hold their positions and stop firing. Later in the day, Tenneh Kiazolu stopped this reporter to issue a declaration: "Tell the world we want the peacekeeping force here now. And tell the warlords God will reward them tomorrow for killing us today."