DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Six students died in a blaze at a religious school in southeast Turkey on Tuesday morning in an incident initially blamed on an electric heater, health officials said.

Another three were injured when a fire broke out at the two-story residential school in Karaagac, a village around 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Diyarbakir, at around 3 a.m. local time (0100GMT).

The building houses a religious school for teaching the Quran to students aged 16 to 23. More than 15 students were inside the building when the fire broke out.

The injured are being treated at Dr. Abdullah Birogul State Hospital in nearby Kulp.

The local prosecutor has launched an investigation and the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez, has appointed two inspectors to look into the incident.