The Syrian family had relocated from the severely damaged city of Nurdagi in southeast Turkey to Konya in the region’s centre.
Local media reported that a Syrian family of seven, which included five children, perished in a fire that broke out in the Turkish home they had relocated to following last week’s earthquake.
The single-story home, where 14 people resided, caught fire on Friday, according to a written statement from the Konya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to the state-owned Anadolu Agency in Turkey. According to the report, seven accident victims were being treated.
According to Anadolu, just a few days prior, the family had relocated from the southeast Turkish city of Nurdagi in Gaziantep province to the central region of Konya.
“The necessary investigations were carried out at the scene and a committee of experts was appointed,” the statement said.
“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, Anadolu said. Turkey is home to nearly four million Syrians.
Many of them live in southeastern regions devastated by last week’s disaster. The death toll from the quakes has surpassed 43,000 across southeastern Turkey and Syria.
Gaziantep, one of southern Turkey’s big cities, has a population of almost two million, and nearly one-third of them are Syrian refugees who fled the war in the Arab country that started in 2011.
On Thursday, the United Nations appealed for more than $1bn in funds for the earthquake relief operation in Turkey, just two days after an appeal for $400m for quake-hit Syria.
While rescue efforts have continued in Turkey, the number of people rescued daily has reduced significantly.
