Contractors arrested after deadly collapse of buildings in Turkey
AS RESCUERS continued to pull a lucky few from the rubble six days after a pair of earthquakes devastated south-east Turkey and northern Syria, Turkish officials detained or issued arrest warrants for some 130 people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed and crushed their occupants.
The death toll from last Monday’s quakes stood at 33,179 yesterday, with more than 80,000 others injured, and is certain to rise.
As despair also bred rage at the agonisingly slow rescue efforts, the focus turned to who is to blame for not better preparing people in the earthquake-prone region, which includes an area of Syria that was already suffering from years of civil war.
Even though Turkey has, on paper, construction codes that meet current earthquake-engineering standards, they are rarely enforced, explaining why thousands of buildings slumped on to their side or pancaked downwards on to residents.
Turkish vice-president Fuat Oktay said late on Saturday that warrants have been issued for the detention of 131 people suspected of being responsible for collapsed buildings.
Turkey’s justice minister has vowed to punish anyone responsible and prosecutors have begun gathering samples of buildings for evidence on materials used in constructions. The quakes were powerful, but victims, experts and people across Turkey are blaming poor construction for exacerbating the devastation.
Yesterday, authorities in the province of Gaziantep arrested two people who are suspected of having cut down columns to make extra room in a building that collapsed, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
A day earlier, Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced the planned establishment of “Earthquake Crimes Investigation” bureaux.
The bureaux would aim to identify contractors and others responsible for building works, gather evidence, instruct experts including architects, geologists and engineers, and check building permits and occupation permits.
A building contractor was detained by authorities at Istanbul airport on Friday before he could board a flight out of the country.
He was the contractor of a luxury 12-storey building in the historic city of Antakya, in Hatay province, the collapse of which left an untold number dead.
The detentions could help direct public anger toward builders and contractors, deflecting attention from local and state officials who allowed the apparently substandard constructions to go ahead.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, already burdened by an economic downturn and high inflation, faces parliamentary and presidential elections in May. Survivors, many of whom lost loved ones, have also turned their frustration and anger on authorities.
Rescue crews have been overwhelmed by the widespread damage which has affected roads and airports, making it even more difficult to race against the clock.
Mr Erdogan acknowledged earlier in the week that the initial response has been hampered by the extensive damage.
He said the worst-affected area is 310 miles (500km) in diameter and was home to 13.5 million people.
During a tour of quake-damaged cities on Saturday, he said a disaster on this scale is rare and again referred to it as the “disaster of the century”.
Rescuers, including crews from other countries, continued to search the rubble in the hope of finding additional survivors who could yet beat increasingly long odds.
Thermal cameras were used to probe the piles of concrete and metal, while rescuers demanded silence so they could hear the voices of the trapped.
A six-year-old boy was removed from the debris of his home in Adiyaman city yesterday, 151 hours after the quake.