2 Syrian children die in Jordan camp fire

AMMAN – Two Syrian child brothers died when their makeshift tent caught fire in a refugee camp northwest of Amman, the Jordanian government said Sunday.

A candle sparked the fire that swept through a caravan and two makeshift tents in the Zaatari refugee camp in the Mafraq province where the two children’s bodies were found, mostly charred, and their father in a state of shock, according to a statement by the Jordanian civil defense authority.

Al-Zaatari is the largest refugee camp for Syrians in Jordan. Around 1.3 million Syrians currently live in Jordan, according to official data, including 581,000 registered refugees.

Syria has been in the throes of civil war since March 2011 after a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad escalated into an armed insurrection following a violent government crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 146,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011.

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