Three people died – a married couple and their young daughter – and a fourth is in critical condition after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning in an incident in the Bağcılar district, west of Istanbul’s European side, on Monday.
Turkish broadcaster TRTHaber reported that the tragedy occurred in a home on the top floor of a five-storey building located at 1723rd Street in the Demirkapı neighbourhood. Concerned relatives, who had been unable to contact the family for two days, reportedly alerted the emergency hotline 112 last night.
Police, fire and medical teams were called to the scene and, unable to open the door of the apartment, firefighters gained access to the flat through the balcony: inside they detected a strong smell and found a pot of food on the fire. Initial checks confirmed that a gas cylinder had been left open and was connected to a lighting device.
During the examination of the house, the medical services confirmed the death of three of the four occupants of the house: Abdülaziz Malay (71), his wife Fatime Jabara (44), and their daughter Zehra Malay, who was only 7 years old. The couple’s other daughter, 33-year-old Gülbahar Malay, was found alive but in critical condition and was rushed to hospital after receiving emergency assistance at the scene.
Initial assessments by teams from the Istanbul Gas Distribution Company (IGDAŞ) point to possible exposure to carbon monoxide as the cause of the deaths; a son of the deceased man, Nimetullah Malay, explained that following a blackout on Friday, the family had used a gas cylinder for lighting: “They did not use it for heating. Besides, there was no natural gas because it was cut off”.
Gas explosion leaves one injured in Ataşehir
Also on Monday, in another gas-related incident, Turkish media reported a natural gas explosion in a ground-floor flat in a three-storey building, occurred in the Ataşehir district of Istanbul’s Asian side. The deflagration, which caused damage to nearby houses and a parked vehicle, also left one person injured.
The incident occurred at around 14:20 in a building on Zeynur Street in the Örnek neighbourhood, for reasons still under investigation. Alerted by neighbours, fire brigades, ambulances, police and natural gas technicians arrived at the scene. One person injured in the explosion was taken to hospital by ambulance, while the fire brigade secured the building and the technicians cut off the gas supply.
“I heard a ‘boom’ and then the sound of debris,” said Nurettin Ekeman, a resident of the building opposite the site of the gas explosion. “When I looked out, I saw that there had been an explosion; the walls of the flat opposite had collapsed and the railings and fences had been blown away. Then some friends and I went to the scene with fire extinguishers. Inside (the house) was a friend of mine, whom I know; he shouted ‘is anyone there?’ Inside the house was just him; we saw him, his hair was slightly burnt but, luckily, he was alive. We then handed him over to the paramedics, who took him away in an ambulance,” he said.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
