Tower block catches fire in Istanbul (VIDEOS)

The blaze ripped through the 24-story residential building

An apartment tower caught fire in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday night, setting all 24 floors ablaze and covering the city in a dense cloud of smoke. The fire occurred in the same district hit by an explosion last week.

The fire broke out in a building in the Fikirtepe district of the city, Oda TV reported. After starting on one of the apartment block’s lower floors, it quickly climbed to the top of the building, the Turkish network added.

Videos shared on social media showed a column of fire burning up one side of the building, possibly housing a stairwell or elevator shaft.

Fikirtepe Rezidans Yangın #fikirtepe #yangın pic.twitter.com/ELe15XRWoR

— Doğukan Yılmaz (@dogukanyilmaaz) October 15, 2022

The apartment block was evacuated, and firefighters soon brought the blaze under control. It is unclear whether anyone was hurt or killed in the fire.

Kadıköy Fikirtepe Yıldırım Sokak'taki 24 katlı rezidansın dış cephesi yanmakta. Ekiplerimiz olaya müdahale ediyor. pic.twitter.com/rL8FaAtU62

— İstanbul İtfaiyesi (@ibbitfaiye) October 15, 2022

The fire broke out less than a week after an explosion in a three-story building in Fikirtepe killed three people, including a ten-year-old girl. Initially blamed on a gas leak, the blast was since found to be the work of a terrorist who was manufacturing pipe bombs in his apartment. Investigators believe that a fuse accidentally ignited and detonated a stash of gunpowder.

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