JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Nine people burned to death in a basement in Cizre where dozens of the wounded are trapped. 16-year-old Abdullah Gün, among those trapped in the basement, went outside to look around when Turkish state forces shot and killed in.

In the town of Cizre, under siege by Turkish state forces, a building in the Cudi neighborhood caught fire in an artillery bombardment, as 37 wounded were trapped in the building’sbasement. Nine people died in the fire. Yesterday evening, the death toll rose to 10, as a child trapped in the basement was shot and killed.

16-year-old Abdullah Gün had emerged from the basement of the burning building to look outside when Turkish state forces shot and killed the boy, according to Mehmet Tunç, the co-chair of the Cizre’s People’s Assembly, who is in the basement. Mehmet also reported that there are children among the 27 survivors, many with serious burns on their hands and faces.

When firefighters attempted to reach the burning building on Thursday evening, security forces claimed that there were “clashes.” As Turkish state forces forcefully refused firefighters access to the building, a fire broke out due to artillery fire on the building. As the fire spread into the basement where 37 wounded Cizre residents were trapped, nine died in the fire. Armored vehicles that surrounded the burning building made the announcement: “Surrender; otherwise you are responsible for what happens.”

(ekip/fk/cm)