97 women, children die in village inferno

Press, 27 November 1980, Page 9

97 women, children die in village inferno

NZPA-Reuter Ankara Ninety-seven women and children died yesterday after a gas bottle exploded during an engagement party at a village in, central Turkey; " ■ . Most victims, - including the bride-to-be, burned to death within seconds as flames engulfed the room where the women and children. had been singing and dancing in Danaci Obasi, 100 km east of Ankara. Twenty-two of the victims \vere. from one family. The only survivor was a

: six-year-old boy who staggered, badly burnt, into the arms of male villagers who had. been having a . separate party for the prospective bridgegroom, in the Turkish tradition. ■Two men were injured as they tried to reach the burning bodies, the police said. When the fire subsided, the men searched through the rubble for their wives and children, but many of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. i the men knelt and wailed

and prayed beside pieces of clothing in the rubble. The women and children had been celebrating in a room of the prospective bride’s house when the gas bottle they had been using to brew tea exploded. The men were at a nearby house when they heard the blast and ran to the scene. The Ministers of the Interior, Housing, and Rural Affairs visited the village and relayed the condolences of the Turkish Head of State (General Kenan Evren).