The kids, aged between one and five, were reportedly left at home in Turkey’s western İzmir province on November 11 when they died from smoke inhalation
Five children tragically died in a horror house blaze while their mum was out selling scrap metal after an electric heating stove caught fire.
The kids, aged between one and five, were reportedly left at home in Turkey’s western İzmir province on November 11 when they died from smoke inhalation.
According to local media reports, mum Melisa Akcan had left the house for a short while to collect the money for scrap metal she had collected to feed her children. However, a fire broke out around 7.30pm and the flames quickly engulfed the entire house, trapping the siblings.
Neighbour Esma Sahin, who ran to help during the fire, told local media: “It was a very painful incident. The children had locked the door and their mother had left. They all died on top of each other. Those children were not at fault.”
Family friend Soner Sahin claimed she heard the screams of the distraught mum. She revealed. “The fire broke out at around 19:30 last night. I had come home from work, all I heard was the screams of the mother, Melisa Akcan. She was shouting, ‘Auntie Esma, my children are dead.’”
Three of the five children who were rescued out of the house had died of smoke poisoning and two were seriously injured and taken to hospital but could not be saved despite the efforts of the doctors. A detention warrant was issued for the 27-year-old mother. The father is currently in prison, Anadolu Agency reported.
Esma described the moments of horror, telling Aydin Detay: “We went into the house, there was a lot of smoke. At that moment, their mother Akcan was taking her children out. At that moment, I realised that five children had already lost their lives. They had been poisoned by the smoke. One of the children had burns on his body. Their mother had left the children alone in the house to collect scraps and buy bread. If we had known, we would have looked after the children.”
According to neighbours, the family had been financially struggling and social services had visited their house 18 times this year. The family did not accept the offer to place the children under state protection, officials said.
