Twelve people, most of them schoolgirls, were killed on Tuesday when fire ravaged a dormitory for pupils in the southern Turkish region of Adana, local officials said.
The fire, which officials said was likely caused by an electrical fault, raced through the building’s wooden interior as panicked victims tried to jump from windows to safety.
Officials expressed concern that many of the dead were killed after they were unable to open a closed fire door to escape the top floors of the building.
Images showed scenes of devastation as emergency services arrived to tackle the fire at the dormitory building, parts of which were turned into a blazing wreck and whose roof collapsed.
The Dogan news agency specified that all 11 of the schoolchildren killed were girls. Their identities have yet to be disclosed but they were also said to be 14 or under.
The disaster took place in the town of Aladag north of Adana city, one of the biggest urban centres in the south of Turkey.
Television footage showed the three-storey building in flames, with fire engine teams trying to put out the blaze.
“We lost 12 of our citizens in the fire. Eleven of them were schoolchildren and one was a tutor. 22 citizens are injured,” Adana region governor Mahmut Demirtas told Turkish NTV television.
The governor said the fire at the private schoolchildren dorm broke out at around 19:25 (1625 GMT) and it was brought under control some three hours later.
Demirtas declined to comment on claims that fire escape stairs were locked and students were unable to use them.
But Adana city Mayor Huseyin Sozlu said: “It appears that the fire escape stairs door was locked. Children could not open it. Bodies were found there,” he said.

more at: AFP