Another Turk killed, five injured in suspicious fire in Germany

A Turkish man, Omer Akbay, was killed and five other people suffered from smoke inhalation in a fire in the state of Baden Württemberg in Germany in the early hours on Monday. According to reports, the fire erupted at a Turkish restaurant in the German city of Freiburg at 1:30 a.m. on Monday. German prosecutors and police have started an investigation into the suspicious incident. Turkey's Karlsruhe Consulate General announced that it is working in contact with German authorities to shed light on the incident. Akbay was father to three and his wife is reportedly expecting another child in a few months. Those who suffered from smoke inhalation were taken to the hospitals for treatment. Arson with racist motives has also become notorious in Germany. In March, eight Turkish immigrants were killed in a fire in the Stuttgart suburb of Backnang in their family home. Officials said the incident appeared to be the result of an electrical malfunction, but immigrant groups in Germany and Turkish officials have not been fully convinced due to numerous past fires that proved to be the work of neo-Nazi groups. Furthermore, last October, a fire broke out in two apartment blocks in the German city of Bremen that sent 30 people to hospital. The two buildings were located on the same street and both were owned by Germans of Turkish descent. Arson is suspected in the incident. Three children from a Turkish family died in an apartment fire in Dortmund on Aug. 3, 2012. Rescue teams found the bodies of 4-year-old Mustafa Tufekci and 12-year-old Dilan Tufekci, while 10-year-old Mehmet Tufekci was taken to the hospital with severe burns but later died of his injuries. Officials said there were strong indications the fire was the result of arson. In another deadly incident, nine Turks, including five children, were killed in a blaze in an apartment building in the western German city of Ludwigshafen on Feb. 5, 2008, an event considered the biggest fire in the post-World War II history of the city. All nine victims were immigrants from Turkey. Yet another notorious fire was part of a brutal attack in which Turks were targeted in the western city of Solingen in 1993 when a group of extreme rightist neo-Nazis set the homes of Turkish families ablaze, killing five members of one family.