Heartbreak as home hearth kills 5 younger kids whereas mum was out at work
In a tragic accident that’s shocked the community, five young siblings perished in a devastating house fire in Turkey’s Izmir province while their mother was out selling scrap to feed them. The heart-wrenching incident happened on November 11 when an electric stove sparked flames that trapped the children, aged one to five, inside the home as they succumbed to smoke inhalation.
Local reports say their mum, Melisa Akcan, had stepped out briefly to cash in on the scrap metal she had collected, only to return to the nightmare around 7:30 pm, with her children locked inside the burning building.
One neighbour, Esma Sahin, who dashed over to help during the blaze, told media: “It was a very painful incident. The children had locked the door and their mother had left. They all died on top of each other. Those children were not at fault.”
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Meanwhile, Soner Sahin, a family pal, recounted the harrowing sounds of the evening, saying: “The fire broke out at around 19:30 last night. I had come home from work, all I heard was the screams of the mother, Melisa Akcan. She was shouting, ‘Auntie Esma, my children are dead.'”.
Tragically, three of the rescued children passed away due to smoke poisoning, and despite medical efforts to save the remaining two who were rushed to hospital with serious injuries, they didn’t make it. Authorities have since issued a detention warrant for the 27 year old mum, Melisa Akcan, reports the Mirror.
Esma recounted the trauma, recounting to Aydin Detay: “We went into the house, there was a lot of smoke. At that moment, their mother Akcan was taking her children out. At that moment, I realised that five children had already lost their lives. They had been poisoned by the smoke. One of the children had burns on his body. Their mother had left the children alone in the house to collect scraps and buy bread. If we had known, we would have looked after the children.”
It was reported by neighbours that the family was financially struggling and social services had made 18 visits to their home just this year. Despite officials stating, the family rejected social service offers to put the kids under state care.
