Syrian family dies in fire after surviving Turkey quake
2 Min Read
After surviving the earthquake, the family died in a fire that enveloped the house in which they sought refuge.
-
The Syrian family moved to the central region of Konya from the southeastern Turkish city of Nurdagi, which was badly hit by the earthquake on February 6th. (AFP)
After surviving last week's earthquake, five Syrian children and their parents died on Friday in a fire that struck a Turkish home they moved to, local media reported.
The Syrian family moved in with their relatives in Konya after the quake, according to the Anadolu state news agency, following a path taken by million of others displaced by the disaster.
Read next: Latest updates on Turkey, Syria earthquakes
"We saw the fire but we could not intervene. A girl was rescued from the window," resident Muhsin Cakir told Anadolu.
The five children who died were aged between four and 13. It was unclear whether the girl who was rescued was a member of the same family.
It is worth noting that Turkey is home to nearly four million Syrians and many of them live in southeastern regions devastated by last week's disaster, which has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 people in Turkey and nearly 3,700 in Syria, according to official figures.
Turkey expels dozens of quake-affected Syrian families from shelters
On February 13th, North Press Agency reported that several quake-affected Syrian families have been forcibly expelled from shelters in Reyhanli and Antakya to give priority to Turkish nationals and families.
A border official from the Bab al-Hawa crossing stated that dozens of Syrian families were deported from Turkey.
"The number is expected to gradually increase, owing to racist treatment, especially after the earthquake," they added.
Read next: Erdogan: recent earthquake worst in Turkey's history
The source further said that Turkish authorities expelled families, taking their paper documents and registering their biometric data so they can guarantee they would not return.
Another civilian source from Deir ez-Zor who was returned from Antakya said ,"Turks have begun to accuse us of being behind everything, even the earthquake," noting that Turkish forces took part in expelling Syrian families both directly and indirectly, failing to intervene to keep the families in the shelters.
