Report: Apartment fire in Syria’s capital kills 7 siblings

People inspect a burned apartment where, according to SANA, Syria’s state news agency, a fire broke out overnight killing seven siblings, members of the Arnous family, in the old quarter of the Syrian capital Damascus. SANA said the cause of the Tuesday night fire in the fourth-floor apartment was not immediately known, adding that it might have been caused by an electric heater. (AP Photo)

DAMASCUS, Syria — A fire broke out overnight in an apartment in the old quarter of the Syrian capital Damascus, killing seven siblings and causing wide material damage, state news agency SANA said Wednesday.

SANA quoted an unnamed official at the Damascus police as saying that the siblings were aged between 3 and 13, adding that their bodies were taken to a nearby hospital. It said the siblings were members of the Arnous family.

SANA said the cause of the Tuesday night fire in the fourth-floor apartment was not immediately known, adding that it might have been caused by an electric heater.

It gave no mention of the siblings’ parents.

The fire brigade said the fire caused an artificial ceiling to collapse inside the apartment.

The news agency said Prime Minister Emad Khamis visited the site late Tuesday. /kga