A Turkish woman and her 5-year-old son lost their lives in a house fire in the town of Eberswalde, located north of Berlin, the capital of Germany, reports said Monday.
The police reported that a fire broke out in both the business and residential parts of a three-story building located in the center of Eberswalde, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuring six others.
According to information obtained from local sources, it was learned that the deceased were a Turkish mother and her 5-year-old son.
It was stated that there was a döner shop on the ground floor of the building, and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
The police have launched a large-scale investigation due to the fire.
The Foreign Ministry said that it was closely watching the developments regarding the incident.
"In a fire that broke out yesterday (Sept. 15) in the city of Eberswalde, Germany, two of our citizens have lost their lives. A local investigation into the incident has been initiated. Our Consulate General in Berlin has conducted an inspection of the burned building. Developments are being closely monitored."
Germany is home to the world’s biggest Turkish community overseas, with more than 3.5 million people. Turks are the largest community of migrants in the European country. The majority of them are descendants of "guest workers" who were invited to rebuild postwar Germany.
The Turkish community in the country has been alarmed by a surge in anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim sentiments in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of neo-Nazi groups and the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which exploited the refugee crisis and attempted to instill immigrants fear.
Germany has been recording Islamophobic crimes separately since 2017.
In 2018, there were 910 incidents, including 48 attacks on mosques alone, a little lower than 2017's 1,095 crimes. In 2019, some 871 attacks targeted the Muslim community in Germany.
