11 People Lost Their Lives in the Fire in Diyarbakır and Mardin

AHMET ÜN

(DIYARBAKIR) – Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Münir Karaloğlu, who inspected the region due to the land fire that broke out between Diyarbakır and Mardin, stated that 11 people lost their lives and 78 people were injured in the fire, and that a total of 15 thousand 100 decares of land was damaged in Diyarbakır and Mardin.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Münir Karaloğlu, who inspected the rural Köksalan neighborhood of Çınar district, between Diyarbakır and Mardin, where the fire first occurred yesterday evening, attended the funeral of 40-year-old Ubeydullah Buğdaycı, the father of 4 children, and his nephew, 15-year-old Abdurrahman Buğdaycı, who lost their lives in the fire. In addition to Deputy Minister Karaloğlu, AFAD President Okay Memiş, Diyarbakır Governor Ali İhsan Su, Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Ayşe Serra Bucak Küçük, AK Party deputies Galip Ensarioğlu, Suna Kepolu, Mehmet Sait Yaz and many people were present at the funeral ceremony.

Deputy Minister Karaloğlu, who made a statement to the journalists about the fire after the funeral ceremony, stated that they were faced with a huge fire and said, “We were faced with a large fire that we can describe as both a stubble fire and a field fire that has not yet been harvested, as well as a blanket fire. Immediately after the fire started, Diyarbakır Governor Under the leadership of our Governor of Mardin, our gendarmerie, AFAD, fire departments of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, forest fire extinguishing teams of our Regional Directorate of Forestry, UMKE and 112 emergency response teams of our Ministry of Health were dispatched to the region and the fight began. “7 UMKE teams were dispatched to the region. 86 vehicles and 451 personnel from Mardin and 94 vehicles and 587 personnel from Diyarbakır intervened in the fire,” he said.

‘Detections regarding the damages started today’

Stating that 8 of those who lost their lives in the fire were registered in Mardin and 3 in Diyarbakır, Karaloğlu also stated that 556 small cattle also died and said:

“In this big fire that occurred yesterday, 8 thousand 100 decares of land were damaged in Diyarbakır. 1450 decares of this were unmown, unharvested barley and wheat fields. The remaining 6 thousand 550 decares were harvested stubble land. In Mardin, 7 decares of land were damaged. Thousand decares of land were affected by the fire. 4 thousand decares of it were unharvested fields and 3 thousand decares were burned and damaged. Our citizens were not the only ones damaged, the irrigation equipment, pipes and electrical infrastructures in the field were also damaged. The relevant detections started today through our Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry. Damage and damage assessments of our citizens are currently continuing. In addition, there is damage to one of our citizens’ sheepfolds and to the haystack of one of our citizens. 250 of our injured animals are Meat and Fish. “They were sent to our institution for slaughter, and 120 of our animals were treated in the region with the support of our veterinarians and faculty.”

Stating that the state is in the region with all its institutions and organizations and that they will be in the region until the citizens’ wounds are healed, Karaloğlu stated that AFAD sent 5 million liras of aid to those affected by the fire and said, “In the first stage, our AFAD Presidency sent 3 million liras of emergency aid to our Diyarbakır Governorship and 2 million liras of emergency aid to our Mardin Governorship.” “But after the damage and damage assessments are completed, we will do our best as the state to cover the losses of our citizens,” he said.

Answering the reporters’ question about the allegations on social media about the cause of the fire, Karaloğlu said:

“As for the cause of the fire, our Public Prosecutor’s Office has now taken control of the incident. Gendarmerie crime scene investigation teams continue their investigations in the region. These are all rumors. We do not have a determination that we can say that the fire, which we have determined with certainty at the moment, broke out for this reason. If this determination is made, our prosecutor’s office will continue its work and investigation. “If the investigation is completed, we will share it with you. Apart from that, we also ask our citizens not to rely too much on the drawings written on social media.”