Children among three dead in fire at Syria's Al Hol camp

The blaze began after a stove exploded while Syrian residents were celebrating a wedding

TOPSHOT - Children play among tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp which holds suspected relatives of Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh governorate, on February 17, 2021. / AFP / Delil SOULEIMAN
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Two Syrian children and a woman died on Saturday and about 30 people were sent to hospital after a fire at Al Hol refugee camp in north-east Syria.

The fire started after a stove exploded while residents were celebrating a wedding, said Sheikhmous Ahmed, an official in the semi-autonomous Kurdish government.

"Three people are dead, two children and a women," he said.

About 30 people were admitted to hospital after suffering burns, including two who are in critical condition, he said.

The camp, run by Kurdish forces, is the largest in Syria and holds about 62,000 people. More than 90 per cent of residents are women and children, the UN said.

Most residents are Iraqis and Syrians who fled fighting between ISIS and Kurdish forces, but the camp also hosts a separate annexe for thousands of foreign women and children suspected of being relatives of extremist fighters.

NGOs have sounded the alarm about dire conditions in Al Hol and the lack of medical care.

A UN representative said earlier this month that people in the camp were living in "horrific subhuman conditions".

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Al Hol was home to more than 31,000 children aged under 12.

"The recent increase in violent events at the camp underscores that the camp is no place for any child to grow up," it said this month.