Fire in Ankara kills at least five Afghan migrants

At least five Afghan migrants were killed and 11 others injured after a three-storey building was engulfed by fire on 29 March 2019.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the uninhabitable building had been abandoned and used by migrants as a shelter. The governor of Ankara, Vasip Sahin, said an investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the fire.

Footage from the site of the fire showed the building was burnt black, and windows were broken. Firefighters, police officers and emergency teams were on site to conduct search and rescue and examine the damage.

Officials said they are comparing records to identify the dead, adding that the death toll could increase. According to news agency Daily Sabah, Altindag Mayor said the area where the building is located was earlier designated as an “urban transformation zone”. This means old and uninhabitable buildings would be demolished over time and new ones would be built for residential or business purposes. Such buildings are often occupied by squatters prior to demolition.

A local resident Burak Burhan Biyikli told news agency Reuters that the building was used as a shelter by migrants and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, and as a storage unit for scrap paper that was collected for sale. He said the fire could have been caused by an electric fuse.

“They are refugees, poor people sheltering in our country because of the war in Afghanistan. These people have to support their lives somehow, so they sought shelter in our country,” he said. “Why would someone collect paper from the trash if it weren’t for poverty?”

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable irregular migrants from Afghanistan are currently believed to be in Turkey. Many are seeking job opportunities in the country or waiting for their chance to migrate to Europe. These vulnerable migrants often live in poor conditions with few livelihood opportunities.

TMP – 09/04/2019

Photo: Anadolu News Agency. The three-story building in the Iskitler Ata Industrial Zone after the