TURKEY: Sixteen girls killed in Turkish dormitory collapse

Record ID: 216239

  • Title: TURKEY: Sixteen girls killed in Turkish dormitory collapse
  • Date: 2nd August 2008
  • Summary: TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER BESIR ATALAY AND HEALTH MINISTER RECEP AKDAG ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER, BESIR ATALAY: "The last figure that we have is 16 dead, unfortunately, and 27 wounded people are in hospitals. We do not have the exact number of the people but as we know there are only 5 to 6 trapped under rubble."
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA5FQLRAAOUZM5P4UF495PC5S66
  • Story Text: A gas explosion killed at least 16 students and injured 27 others, wrecking a dormitory at a girls' school in southern Turkey on Friday (August 1), Interior Minister Besir Atalay said.
    Ten students were feared trapped under the rubble of the three-storey building in Balcilar village, near Taskent town.
    The dormitory, flattened like a house of cards, was in the province of Konya and was being used for students aged eight to 16 who were taking part in a course of Islamic study.
    At the scene, dozens of emergency rescue workers wielding pick axes and hammers dug at the rubble with the assistance of a powerful mechanical digger.
    Local residents were also helping dig with their bare hands.
    The only structure left standing was a shell of one side of the building with some beds visible, with bed sheets still on them.
    Medical rescue teams were at the scene and had pulled out one of three girls they had established contact with under the rubble.
    Anatolian news agency said the building belonged to a religious foundation. Koran courses outside the control of the state's education authorities are illegal in Turkey.
    The blast occurred around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) in the village of Balcilar in a mountainous district of Taskent, at the southern tip of Turkey's central province of Konya.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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