Syrian family of seven die in fire after surviving earthquake in Turkey

Death toll from the 7.8-magnitude quake is now more than 41,000

A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images

A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo

A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images

Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP

Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo

Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo

A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP

A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP

A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP

Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters

A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters

A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP

Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP

Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP

A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Destruction in Antakya. AP

A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP

A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA

Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA

A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP

A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP

Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters

A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters

Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP

Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA

An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP

People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters

Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP

Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP

Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National

A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo

A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo

Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters

A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters

Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Five Syrian children and their parents died in a house fire in central Turkey on Friday, having moved there after surviving last week's earthquake.

The family had gone to Konya region from the Nurdagi district of Gaziantep, after the southern Turkish city was badly damaged by the February 6 quake that hit Turkey and Syria.

Munir, 45, and Meryem, 43, and their children Viam, 13, Riham, 13, Seyma, eight, Saddam, six, and Yusuf, four, had moved in with relatives in Konya, Anadolu state news agency reported, without giving the family's surnames.

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude quake has now exceeded 41,000 across Turkey and Syria.

“We saw the fire but we could not intervene. A girl was rescued from the window,” resident Muhsin Cakir told Anadolu.

Konya's chief public prosecutor's office said the house was a single-storey property with 14 people living there.

“Seven people survived the fire and are continuing their treatment, and seven people died,” the prosecutor's office said.

An investigation is continuing by a deputy chief prosecutor and two public prosecutors, it added.

Turkey is home to nearly four million Syrians.

Many of them live in south-eastern regions devastated by last week's disaster, which has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 people in Turkey and nearly 3,700 in Syria, according to official figures.

There is no official figure for the number of people displaced in Turkey’s side of the disaster region, which is home to some 14 million people.

Nearly two weeks after the earthquake, many are still sleeping in tents, factories, train cars and greenhouses.

The Turkish government and dozens of aid groups have launched a massive relief effort. The UN launched a $1 billion appeal on Thursday to help more than five million survivors.

The government said on Wednesday that more than 5,400 shipping containers have been deployed as shelters and more than 200,000 tents dispatched.

In the mountain villages of Kahramanmaras province, locals are battling to keep warm during the bitterly cold nights, AP reported.

Buyuknacar, a village just a few kilometres from the epicentre, was severely damaged and 158 people were killed.

Two days after the earthquake, a military helicopter brought supplies and on the fifth day the road was cleared.

Villagers said they feared icy conditions in the mountains would lead to further deaths.

Umut Sitil, 45, told AP: “Our basic need is, first, containers. Tents won’t work here. People in tents will freeze to death.”

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 2.2 million people had left the disaster zone.

Of those, he said, the housing needs of 1.6 million had been met, including some 890,000 people placed in public facilities, such as student dormitories, and 50,000 in hotels.