(AP): The 350-year-old Vaniköy Mosque in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district appeared to have been severely damaged after a fire broke out today (Sunday), which was later extinguished.
According to details, a large number of firefighters were dispatched to the scene to extinguish the fire. The fire was controlled from the sea with the support of the teams affiliated to the Coast Guard Command.
A government spokesperson, in a statement, said that the fire broke out at around 1:30 p.m. in the 17th-century mosque along the Bosporus in Üsküdar district.
“Three coast guard boats from the sea, five fire brigade trucks from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and their crew were dispatched to the scene,” the statement said.
Later, Istanbul’s Fire Department informed the fire had been extinguished and cooling efforts were ongoing. The firefighters prevented the fire from reaching a forest behind the mosque and the neighbouring houses that line the Bosporus.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. An investigation into the incident, however, has been launched. Meanwhile, the imam of the mosque suffered a panic attack after thinking his children were trapped inside.
The mosque is a wooden structure with a single minaret and was built by Vani Mehmet Efendi, a Turkish scholar, in 1665.
