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Death Toll from Kobani Prison Fire Rises to 8, With Around 20 Injured
The death toll from the fire that broke out inside the prison in the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) has risen to eight detainees, while around 20 others sustained varying degrees of injuries and suffered from smoke inhalation. Some of the injured remain in unstable condition. Several are receiving treatment at hospitals in the city, while others have been transferred to hospitals in Aleppo.
According to information obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fire broke out following a period of tension and heightened security around the prison after General Security Forces surrounded the building. This coincided with reports circulating among detainees that some of them might be transferred to Aleppo Central Prison.
Sources said the reports sparked panic and fear among the detainees, prompting some of them to set fire to parts of the dormitories. The flames then spread through sections of the detention facility, resulting in deaths, injuries, and cases of smoke inhalation.
Earlier, the Syrian Observatory had reported rapidly escalating security developments inside Kobani Prison after a detainee protest, during which prisoners locked the doors and damaged several of them. Tensions and heightened security measures were reported around the prison, coinciding with the arrival of military reinforcements and convoys in Kobani and increased security deployments in several neighborhoods.
Ambulance and civil defense teams evacuated the injured and transported them to medical centers and hospitals in Kobani. Other cases were transferred to hospitals in Aleppo, amid difficulties in obtaining accurate information about the situation inside the prison.
The circumstances surrounding the fire and the details of what occurred inside the prison remain unclear, in the absence of official information and amid conflicting accounts of the cause of the blaze. The incident has raised serious concerns over the detainees’ safety and their conditions of detention.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called for a transparent and independent investigation to uncover the circumstances of the incident and determine responsibility, ensure the safety and protection of the detainees, and hold accountable anyone found responsible for abuses or negligence, in order to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
