Gag Order on Dorm Fire Killing 12 Including 11 Children

A gag order has been issued on fire that broke out in a dorm in which 12 people including 11 children have lost their lives in Adana.

Adana

Gag Order on Dorm Fire Killing 12 Including 11 Children

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11 children and one dorm staff have lost their lives in the fire that broke out at Özel Aladağ Tahsil Çağındaki Talebelere Yardım Derneği Ortaöğretim Kız Öğrenci Yurdu, a girl student dorm, in the evening hours in Adana province.

A gag order has been issued on the incident towards morning.

Forestry protection units along with fire department responded to the fire, which started at around 7:30 p.m. yesterday (November 29).

22 students who jumped off the window and affected by the smoke were taken into hospitals.

When the fire was put out subsequent to a 3-hour fighting, the fire fighters entering the building found bodies of 11 students and one instructor.

Adana Governor Mahmut Demirtaş said there were in total 34 students staying in the dorm.

Those who lost their lives are as follows:

Sare Betül Genç, Fatma Canatan, Semanur Aydoğdu, Gamze Bagir, Bahtınur Baş, Nurgül Pertlek, Tuğba Aydoğdu, Sümeyye Yetim, Cennet Karataş, Sevim Köylü, İlknur Maden, Zeliha Avcı.

Electrical contact

Adana Fire Department Bureau President Fatih Durukan said the fire broke out due to an electrical contact.

Underlining that inside of the building veneer and the floor carpet-covered, Durukan stated that the fire grew in a short time and spread over the upper floors.

"Just one dorm"

There was a state dorm with the capacity of 160 students.

On July 11, 2016, a tender was made for construction of a private student dorm with the capacity of 300 students.

The construction began on November 2, 2016.

Mehmet Karataş, the father of 5th grade student Cennet Karataş who lost her life in the fire, said "This was the only dorm. We had neither the chance to criticize nor an option", according to a report by Al Jazeera.

CHP Adana MP: When village schools were closed…

Evaluating the incident to BirGün daily, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Adana MP Elif Doğan Türkmen mentioned an allegation that the doors of the dorm are kept locked to prevent students from leaving the building at nights.

Stating that it is known by everyone that the dorm belongs to religious sects, Türkmen said “We cannot just say ‘it is volition of god’ and skip this”.

“It is known that Süleymancı sect is strong in the district. AKP’s (Justice and Development Party) policy of closing schools in villages has been continuing for a long time. Teachers are symbols of enlightenment in villages despite everything. By closing the schools, you leave people living in the villages with only one person who can develop themselves, and they are mosque imams. And the families are poor and want to have their children receive education. Since there is no school in the villages, they face the problem of lack of shuttles when they have to go to districts. There is no solution to this. Therefore, the children, who have to sleep in their homes, are being sent to dorms. These families are desperate and destitute about the dorms. This is a real disgrace of the government. AKP’s educational policies are as responsible as the ones who are physically responsible for the deaths”. (EKN/TK)