In the heart of Istanbul, 22 motorcycles burned fiercely and turned to ashes.

A container containing 22 motorcycles used for training by driving schools in Kağıthane was engulfed in flames. In the fire, which also damaged 2 parked minibuses, 8 driving schools suffered approximately 5 million lira in material damage. The police launched an investigation into the incident due to suspicions of arson.

The incident occurred on Friday, January 3, around 8:00 PM in the Hamidiye neighborhood. According to the information obtained, a fire broke out in the container where the motorcycles belonging to the driving schools on the street were located for an unknown reason. The flames quickly spread to 2 minibuses parked next to the container. Upon seeing the fire, nearby drivers reported it, and a large number of fire crews were dispatched to the scene. The fire crews, who arrived at the scene shortly, intervened in the fire.

SUSPICION OF ARSON

After the fire was extinguished, the fire crews conducted cooling operations for a while. Inspections revealed that the 22 motorcycles locked inside the container were rendered unusable. Two minibuses were also damaged in the fire. The moments when the container was engulfed in flames were recorded by a mobile phone camera. The police launched an investigation into the incident due to suspicions of arson.

"IT WAS CLEARLY INTENDED TO CAUSE DAMAGE"

Speaking about the incident, Erhan Şenodak, one of the driving school officials, said, "Around 8:00 PM last night, someone must have started a fire here. They set the tires at the bottom of the container on fire. When the tires burned, it spread to the container. The entire upper part of the container is burning. All the motorcycles inside are damaged. One bus and a service vehicle are also damaged; they are all burning. The fire crews came and extinguished it. Exactly 20 motorcycles were completely burned. 15 of them became unusable; there are some that can be saved. The total estimated damage is around 5-6 million. There is nothing specific, but it looks like arson. Because they used to start fires to warm up before, but this was not for warming. This was clearly intended to cause damage. Setting the tires on fire next to the container seems like a deliberate act to us," he said.

Engin Topal, one of the driving school instructors, said, "I came here around 8:00 PM to drop off a motorcycle. When I arrived, flames were coming from the middle of the tires in the container. The flames had seeped inside the container. I immediately recorded a video. I sent the video to the motorcycle group and then called the fire department. I informed the course owners. I also had a minibus parked behind. I moved the minibus to prevent it from catching fire. Unfortunately, I couldn't intervene with the others," he said.