A fire broke out at a school in southern Turkey on Tuesday, killing eleven teenagers and one staff member. 

Omar Celik, who represents Adana in parliament, told TV station CNN Turk that the fire swept through a dormitory housing middle and high school students.

Celik added that the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault.

"12 bodies were recovered, 22 wounded people were taken to hospitals," Adana governor Mahmut Demirtas was quoted as saying by Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

Demirtas said some of the injuries were caused when terrifed students jumped out of the windows to escape the flames, while others suffered from smoke inhalation.

Opposition parliamentarian Elif Dogan Turkmen also spoke with CNN Turk, saying that the girls came from impoverished families who lived in towns that did not have schools of their own.

Images on Turkish television showed flames rising from a multi-story building in the town with firefighters deployed at the scene.

Fire safety officials took three hours to bring the blaze under control, according to Dogan news agency.

rs, es/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)