A three-storey girls' dormitory has collapsed in southern Turkey, killing at least 17 students and injuring around 27.

The rescue operation has been called off after no further signs of life were detected in the ruins of the building near Taskent, in Konya province.

Authorities said the collapse happened when a large gas canister exploded.

The explosion occurred at about 0500 local time (0200 GMT) when most of students were asleep in the dormitory.

Galip Sef, a Konya emergency services official, said three girls had sustained severe burns when the gas canister in the canteen exploded.

"We think the collapse was caused by a gas canister explosion in the building, given the burns on the injured," he was quoted as saying by state-run Anatolian news agency.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul said that six girls were initially believed to be trapped in the rubble and rescuers had heard the voices of at least three girls.

Sniffer dogs were brought in to try to find the girls but there were no longer any sounds or signs of life and the rescue attempt was called off.

Smell of gas

About 40 girls, between the ages of eight and 16, were staying at the dormitory in Balcilar village to attend Koran courses during the school summer holidays.

Merve Avci, a 13-year-old student who had minor injuries, said she had smelled gas coming from downstairs to the upper floors, and then felt the explosion.

"I was in the uncollapsed part of the building with five of my friends immediately after the explosion, and we felt flames rising from the downstairs to upper floors," she said, according to Anatolian news agency.
Map of turkey showing Konya province, Aug 1, 2008.
"Before the explosion, I heard one of our teachers saying that a gas hose was not attached to its proper place in the kitchen."

At the scene, people with pick axes, hammers and even their bare hands were trying to remove rubble.

Television footage showed one girl in pyjamas being carried to a hospital. Another was seen being treated on the back seat of a van before being moved onto a stretcher and taken to hospital.

Outside the hospital, an eyewitness told Turkish broadcaster DHA how he helped in the rescue.

"There was a huge blast, I took my wife and ran to the site. The building was totally collapsed. We rescued as many as we could and then we brought them with our vehicle to the hospital," he said.

Konya's governor Osman Aydin said emergency teams had been dispatched from the capital Ankara to assist the rescue efforts.