A mass fire broke out last night around 11:00 p.m at our coordination center in Hatay's Reyhanli district. According to initial findings, it was caused by an electrical malfunction.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has been supporting Syria ever since the crisis emerged. We have been carrying out humanitarian aid projects in the region on a regular basis.
In order to store the aid supplies and organize aid activities which take place in Syria, we have constructed a coordination and logistics center on a 4 thousand meter square area in the Reyhanli district of Hatay. All aid coordination's are conducted through this center.
According to initial findings, the fire which broke out last night around 11:00 p.m at our coordination center, was caused by an electrical malfunction. The fire which broke out at our bakery, which produces over 170,000 loaves of bread a day for Syrian refugees, became uncontrollable as it spread across the entire logistic center within seconds. The fire was unable to be controlled for hours even though 30 firefighters and 5 construction equipment came from Hatay and its neighboring provinces.
Fire fighters showed great efforts to prevent the flames from spreading onto fuel tanks. After hours of great struggles, what was feared did not occur and the fire was extinguished without reaching fuel tanks. The damage assessment of the burnt logistics center is still continuing. The support we carry out in Syria still continues through our Kilis logistics center, mobile oven and other mobile units.
We would like to thank all our volunteers, in particular those who have help us recover the damages of the fire from the very first day, which would have prevented necessities from reaching those in need, in Syria. With the support of all our donors and volunteers, we will work hard towards re-opening our logistic warehouses in our coordination center.