How Did German Blazing Inferno Begin?

BERLIN, Feb. 5, 2008 — -- Authorities are investigating the cause of an apartment building inferno in southwest Germany that killed nine people and forced parents to throw their baby from a third floor window to save her life.

As television networks broadcast the charred remains of the century-old building, and newspapers here recount the horror of the blaze, German authorities are pressured by Turkey to determine if the fire had been set deliberately. All of the fire victims are of Turkish nationality, according to German investigators.

The cause of Sunday's fire in Ludwigshafen is still unclear, but a German newspaper report that two girls had seen a man starting the blaze in the building, raises fears among Turks, inside and outside of the country, of a targeted attack. A delegation headed by Turkish State Minister Mustafa Said Yazicioglu, minister for Turks living abroad, arrived in Germany, Tuesday evening to hold talks about the fire. The group includes four Turkish police investigators, ABC News has learned.

"We expect German authorities to carry out a comprehensive investigation, taking into account every possibility, and to prosecute the perpetrators if the fire was started deliberately," the Turkish foreign ministry told reporters in Ankara, Tuesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone this evening, ahead of a planned trip here later this week, said in a speech to Turkish lawmakers, "we are greatly concerned over the possibility of premeditation in the fire, in which all the victims were Turks." He added, "Is the real reason behind this sad event xenophobia? We hope not."

The victims include four adults and five children, aged between 1 and 16. Eight of those who died succumbed to the effects of smoke inhalation. One woman died when she jumped from the building to escape the flames. Germany's popular Bild daily newspaper published a photograph of two brothers, called Kamil and Kenan, aged 2 and 3, and said they were among those who had died in the flames. The fire also injured more than 60 people, according to German officials.