Turkey charges 4 over deadly schoolgirl dorm fire

Turkish authorities on Sunday charged four people on Sunday in connection with a deadly fire that killed 11 schoolgirls at a dormitory in the southern Adana region, state media reported.

Among those charged and placed under arrest pending trial was the dormitory manager and the head of a linked association, state-run news agency Anadolu said.

An adult tutor was also killed in the fire on Tuesday, which officials said was likely caused by an electrical fault.

Some 24 people were injured, including eight adults, as they tried to escape the blaze in Aladag district, which tore through the building's wooden interior.

The agency said a total of 14 people had been detained over the fire but six have been released into "judicial control", the equivalent of probation.

The dormitory is said to have belonged to a religious Sunni Muslim sect known as the Suleymanci.

The Suleymanci are one of the biggest religious communities in Turkey and are renowned for having a major influence in politics.

After the fire, the government came under attack by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who accused it of failing to properly fund students' digs, forcing poor families to use accommodation run by religious communities.