Third Sibling’s Death Believed Tied to Bird Flu

Bird flu was suspected in the death of an 11-year-old girl in Turkey, whose older brother and sister died in the last two days. Their doctor said they probably contracted the illness by playing with dead chickens.

The newspaper Sabah said the children had tossed the chickens’ heads like balls inside their house in Dogubayazit, near the Iranian border.

A fourth sibling was also seriously ill and breathing with the help of respirators, said Huseyin Avni Sahin, head physician at the hospital in the city of Van where the children were treated.