Nine Turks die in suspicious building fire in Germany

All nine victims were immigrants from the southern province of Gaziantep, and most of them were from the same family, officials said. Four of the victims were identified as Belma Kaplan, Medine Kaplan, Hülya Kaplan and Döne Kaplan, who was five months pregnant. Four other members of the Kaplan family, including a 3-year-old child, were in critical condition. About 60 people were injured, and officials said it was possible more bodies would be found.

In Ankara, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin confirmed all the nine people killed in the fire were Turkish citizens.

German officials, including the minister for immigration and integration, Maria Boehmer, and Rhineland-Palatinate State Prime Minister Kurt Beck, rushed to the area after the tragic fire. Beck talked of a "terrible fire accident" and said there was no indication that it had stemmed from xenophobia.

The fire revived memories of a brutal attack on Turks in Germany in 1993. Five Turks were killed in the arson attack by right-wing extremists on a house in the western German city of Solingen, the worst attack on Germany's 2.5-million Turkish community to date.

Festivities as part of a carnival in Ludwigshafen were cancelled after the fire, and a book of condolences was opened for signatures at the municipal building. Mayor Eva Lohse said authorities would help relatives of the victims initially by providing financial assistance.

Some 52 people, mostly Turks, were registered as living in the building, which authorities said was in danger of collapse. But it was not clear how many people were inside when the fire broke out because a number of non-residents were believed to have been watching a carnival procession from the building.

Police said it was unclear what caused the fire, but the fact that the flames instantly engulfed the building nearly 20 minutes after the carnival procession raised suspicions of a deliberate attack. Some of the residents were also enraged, saying the firemen were very slow to intervene.

Officials, however, said the firemen and other emergency service personnel were quick to respond because they were near the building due to the carnival. The number of fatalities could have been higher if they had not been celebrating the carnival there and thus able to help catch children thrown from the upper floors of the building, said the officials.

German television reports said the wooden stairs in the building were completely burned out in the fire, blocking exit for residents.