Europe

Official: blazing dormitory's fire door was probably locked

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Flames rise from a fire in a school dormitory, in Aladag, Adana in southern Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. A fire at a middle school dormitory for girls in southern Turkey has left over ten people dead and over a dozen injured, a Turkish governor and state-run media said. (DHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

Medics carry a wounded student to an ambulance in Aladag, Adana in southern Turkey, late Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. A fire at a middle school dormitory for girls in southern Turkey has left over ten people dead and over a dozen injured, a Turkish governor and state-run media said.(IHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

Medics carry a wounded student to an ambulance in Aladag, Adana in southern Turkey, late Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. A fire at a middle school dormitory for girls in southern Turkey has left over ten people dead and over a dozen injured, a Turkish governor and state-run media said. (IHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

An official says a fire exit at a dormitory for girls that caught fire in southern Turkey, killing 12 people, was most probably locked.

The fire blazed through the three-story dormitory housing middle school students in the town of Aladag, in Adana province, late on Tuesday, leaving 11 students and a teacher dead. The fire, believed to be caused by an electrical fault, also injured 2.

The state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Adana Mayor Huseyin Sozlu as saying on Wednesday that either the fire door was locked or that the panicked students were unable to open it.

He added: "Most probably it was locked."

Authorities, meanwhile, imposed a temporary media blackout that restricts coverage of the fire, citing public order concerns and possible impediments to the investigation.