A three-storey girl's dormitory has collapsed in southern Turkey, killing at least 10 students and injuring 20.
A three-storey girl's dormitory has collapsed in southern Turkey, killing at least 13 students and injuring 20.
Officials said about six students were still buried under the rubble of the school building in Konya province, near the town of Taskent.
Officials said about six students were still buried under the rubble of the school building near the town of Taskent, in Konya province.
The collapse is believed to have been caused when a large gas canister exploded, said authorities.
The collapse is believed to have been caused when a large gas canister exploded, authorities said.
The explosion occurred at about 0415 local time (0115 GMT) when most of students were asleep in the dormitory.
The explosion occurred at about 0500 local time (0200 GMT) when most of students were asleep in the dormitory.
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Galip Sef, a Konya emergency services official, said three school girls had sustained severe burns when the gas canister in the canteen exploded.
"We think the collapse was caused by a gas canister explosion in the building, given the burns on the injured," Sef was quoted as saying by state-run Anatolian news agency.
Pick axes, hammers
Around 40 girls, between the ages of 8 and 16, were staying at the dormitory in Balcilar village to attend Koran courses during the school summer holidays.
At the scene, people with pick axes, hammers and even their bare hands were trying to remove rubble.
Television footage showed one girl in pyjamas being carried to a hospital. Another was seen being treated on the back seat of a van before being moved onto a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Outside the hospital, an eyewitness told Turkish broadcaster DHA how he helped in the rescue.
"There was a huge blast, I took my wife and ran to the site. The building was totally collapsed. We rescued as many as we could and then we brought them with our vehicle to the hospital," he said.
Konya's governor Osman Aydin said emergency teams had been dispatched from the capital Ankara to assist the rescue efforts.
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