Three Syrian children killed, six wounded as fire erupts at tent city in Turkey’s southeast

MARDİN

DHA photo

Three Syrian migrant children were killed and six others were injured after a fire broke out at a tent city in the Derik district of Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province. The fire was the second reported in one week, after 21 tents burned down on March 25. 

The fire started at around 3 a.m. on March 29, killing three children, aged between three and eight years old, and injuring six others. According to reports, the wounded were taken to the Derik State Hospital. 

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire. 

The fire was the second reported in less than a week, as some 21 tents burned down after an electrical contact caused a fire on March 25. No casualties were reported on that day as fire squads from the tent city and the Derik municipality swiftly intervened. 

The migrant camp in Mardin is located four kilometers away from the center of Derik and hosts some 8,970 Syrians in 2,100 tents, according to recent figures from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Located along Turkey’s border with Syria, Mardin hosts over 13,000 migrants in camps built in three districts Midyat, Nusaybin and Derik. However, the refugees hosted in camps make up only a fraction of the total refugee population, as slightly over 280,000 of nearly three million of Turkey’s Syrian refugees are camp residents. 

Turkey recently reached an agreement with the EU on a plan to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of Syrian and non-Syrian refugees, whereby Greece will send back all irregular migrants reaching its Aegean islands while Turkey will send an equal number of Syrians to EU countries. The EU will also provide an addition 3 billion euros in aid to Turkey, to be spent on providing better living conditions for Syrian migrants in the country.