Two injured individuals from Kobani prison recount details of fire incident

A fire broke out at dawn today inside Kobani Prison, resulting in the deaths of nine detainees and injuries to seventeen others. Two detainees injured in the incident recounted the details to AnHA agency, noting that the fire occurred after the detainees were informed of plans to transfer them to Aleppo Governorate.

Mahmoud Jamil, one of the injured, stated that sounds of explosions were heard late at night and that detainees saw Public Security forces in the vicinity of the prison; they overheard personnel discussing the transfer of all Kobani detainees to Aleppo Governorate.

Jamil added that the detainees rejected the decision, declaring they would rather die than be handed over to the government. One detainee set himself on fire, and the blaze subsequently spread within the prison, resulting in the deaths of nine people and injuries to seventeen others, including some who were critically wounded.

For his part, the injured man, Aziz al-Sayyid Khad Ubaid, stated that he had spent seven months in Kobani prison. He recounted how forces affiliated with the transitional government had arrested a number of young men—taking them into custody—while they were participating in a demonstration demanding an investigation into the abduction and death of Sipan Hazni.

He noted that the detainees had been given assurances that everyone held there would be transferred to Aleppo Governorate. He further described how one of the detainees set a fire; although the others attempted to extinguish it, the flames continued to burn fiercely.

Sh-S

ANHA