Turkey’s main opposition CHP leader visits town hit by deadly dormitory fire

ADANA

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Dec. 3 leaves a carnation to the dormitory, where 12 people were killed in a fire on Nov. 29. / AA Photo

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu visited Dec. 3 the district which was hit by a fatal fire on a girls’ dormitory. 

Kılıçdaroğlu went to the Aladağ district of the southern Adana province and left carnations at the girls’ dormitory, where eleven children and one adult lost their lives, while 24 others were injured on Nov. 29 in a fire that erupted inside the building. 

“We lost our children,” said Kılıçdaroğlu on Dec. 3 in Aladağ. “We always try to learn our lessons after an incident happens,” he added. 

Calling on the government to act more meticulously when inspecting dormitories, Kılıçdaroğlu said clever people who run a state with experience would have taken the necessary measures before an accident happened. 

“To take care of these children is the duty of all of us. There can be no politics of this,” said Kılıçdaroğlu, adding that he hoped this saddening incident would be a lesson to the whole nation. 

While inspections and investigations continue over the deadly incident, early reports suggest that major negligence led to the fire.