Roof sleeping causes deaths in Turkey

ISTANBUL – In Turkey this summer already dozens of people have died after not taking precautions when sleeping on the roof. The youngest victim is a ten year old girl in the western province of Bursa, who slept on the roof with her family because of the heat: she woke up at night and feel from a height of 3 storeys. The incident was reported in several Turkish media on Friday.

In the south eastern province of Diyarbakir alone over the last ten weeks, thirty people have died and eighty people were disabled by accidents during roof sleeping. There are no national statistics, but a doctor in Diyabakir says in his region only traffic accidents cause more deaths.
Accidents happen when climbing down or up from the roof, but also when people wake up at night: the roofs don’t have fences and when half asleep especially children easily lose their balance. Mainly poor families are affected, since they can’t afford an air conditioner to help them cope with temperatures rising up to 40 degrees celsius.