Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Fire in al-Tanf camp injures 28

A fire swept through the Al Tanf refugee camp in no-man's land desert area between Syria and Iraq on Tuesday night, leaving 28 Palestinian refugees injured. "Within one minute the tent was a fireball. We had seconds to pull our families out of the surrounding tents, which are one metre apart," said a Palestinian refugee who lost everything in the fire. "There was no time to take anything. Our children were sleeping. My neighbour has serious burns because he went into the burning flames looking for his child who had already run out of the tent. Everything is lost, including our hope in life." The fire was apparently caused by a spark from an electric cable in a tent which ignited a diesel can and gas cylinder. The flames spread rapidly, fanned by strong winds. Border guards two miles away said they heard several loud explosions as gas cylinders and televisions exploded in the flames. Fortunately, the previous day UNHCR had brought in extra oxygen canisters for five asthmatic refugee children suffering from the swirling sand and dust around the desert camp. These supplies were used to help over thirty people, mostly children, suffering from the inhalation of toxic smoke fumes. Seven tents, personal documents and all the possessions of seven Palestinian families who have been stranded at the camp for the past 11 months were destroyed in the blaze. "This is the second time a fire has broken out in this camp. It is an example of how inappropriate and dangerous this place is for humans to live in and underlines the need to move these refugees to an appropriate and safe place," said Laurens Jolles, UNHCR's Representative in Syria. "This was an accident waiting to happen. In the winter the refugees have endured flooding; now the heat is becoming unbearable and we can expect tragedy upon tragedy to follow if we do not find a solution for these people."