05.02.2026 16:00
Iskender Horuz (62), who has been staying in a private care home in Kütahya for 11 years and is physically disabled from birth, poured cologne on his legs and set himself on fire. The incident was captured by security cameras, and it was determined that Horuz suffered third-degree burns on his legs, leading to his admission to intensive care for treatment. Iskender Horuz's legal guardian and niece, Satı Horuz (52), stated that they filed a complaint against those responsible, claiming that a staff member at the care home provided cologne, which led to her uncle's burning.
Iskender Horuz, who lives in Eskişehir and is physically disabled from birth, was placed in a private nursing home in Kütahya 11 years ago after the death of his parents. On the evening of January 29, around 21:30, Horuz poured cologne on his legs while sitting in his wheelchair at the nursing home and set himself on fire. The nursing home staff noticed that Horuz was burning about 5 minutes later. While the fire was being extinguished, it is claimed that Horuz was taken to the hospital for treatment the next day. Iskender Horuz, who was found to have third-degree burns on his legs, was transferred to Eskişehir City Hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit at the Burn Treatment Center.
Iskender Horuz's legal guardian, his niece Sati Horuz, stated that they were informed of the incident by a call from the nursing home director and that they filed a criminal complaint against those responsible with the Public Prosecutor's Office. Sati Horuz said, "My uncle Iskender has been staying at the private nursing home in Kütahya for about 11 years. On the night of January 29, a staff member from the nursing home, M.Ç, gave him a cologne bottle. He said, 'Pour this on yourself, set yourself on fire, and get rid of it.' Since he couldn't think normally, he lit a lighter on the poured cologne and caught fire. They sent the camera footage. You can hear the voices of 5-6 people next door. After he was fully engulfed in flames, the staff came out. 4-5 people calmly ran over, not even in a panic. They tried to extinguish the fire calmly, and they didn't take him to the hospital that night. He stayed there, and the responsible director came the next morning and took him. After taking him to the hospital in the morning, they called me. I learned all this after talking to my uncle. He told me what he experienced in this way," she said.
"MY UNCLE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL IN THE MORNING"
Horuz claimed that Iskender Horuz stated in his police testimony that he wanted to commit suicide by setting himself on fire because he was afraid of a staff member. "He was burned from below the knee to above his genitals, up to his belly. My uncle's general health condition is that he had his first surgery. He will have his second surgery later. After that, he will have a third surgery. He has third-degree burns. Since his nerves are burned, he doesn't even feel pain right now; he is being kept in intensive care. He is confined to a wheelchair. He doesn't have the chance to get off the wheelchair and go to the bathroom. He is disabled due to an illness he had as a child. After my uncle was burned, he wasn't taken to the hospital immediately; he was taken in the morning. When I asked, they explained that he didn't want to go to the hospital. I am complaining about both the staff and the nursing home," he said.
THE MOMENTS HE CAUGHT FIRE, ON CAMERA
While the investigation initiated by the Kütahya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office continues following the complaint, the moments when Iskender Horuz set himself on fire were captured by the nursing home's security camera. In the footage, Iskender Horuz is seen burning for about 5 minutes after setting himself on fire, after which nursing home staff intervened.
JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATION INITIATED
The director of the private nursing home, Muhammet Kahraman, stated that a judicial and administrative investigation is ongoing regarding the incident. Kahraman said, "This disabled individual is someone who stays up late watching television. The area where this incident occurred is a television viewing area. The time the incident occurred is when our care staff provides care services to the disabled individual. While trying to burn the label on his pants, the label caught fire due to being made of polyester, and then the pants caught fire. Unfortunately, this tragic event occurred. When you watch these images, you can see that when the fire alarm system's audible warning was activated, they intervened in the incident within 1 minute and carried out the extinguishing process. We have 6 months of camera recordings. A judicial and administrative investigation has been initiated regarding the incident," he said.