01 December 2016•Update: 02 December 2016
ANKARA
Turkey’s four political parties agreed on Thursday to establish a committee to investigate a deadly dormitory fire in the southern Adana province.
The move came after lawmakers from ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) proposed a motion in parliament’s General Assembly.
AK Party Deputy Yilmaz Tunc said fire extinguishers were available on each floor and periodic maintenance of building was conducted.
However, he said, the students had no firefighting training.
"The children may have reached the fire escape if they had gone through firefighting drills," he added.
Deniz Depboylu, a deputy from the MHP, said necessary measures should be taken against sites where neglect was found in previous inspections.
"We believe the parliamentary investigation will prevent future havoc," Depboylu said.
She argued that all the dormitories, either state or private, should be kept under tight control.
On Wednesday, 13 suspects were taken into custody over the incident, in which 11 students and a teacher were killed and 24 others were wounded.
On Thursday, funeral services were held for the victims.
The injured were either affected by smoke or hurt while trying to escape the burning building. Eight of them were discharged from the hospital, while 16 others are still under treatment.
The fire likely broke out due to an electrical fault, according to reports.
In a report Thursday, the Adana Police Department said the door of the fire escape on the second floor was not locked during the fire, but lacked door handles on both sides.
The one on the third floor had handles and was also not locked, according to the report.
A thorough investigation remains underway, with three prosecutors assigned to investigate the incident.
*Ayse Humeyra Atilgan in Istanbul contributed to this report.
