Ten dead in Istanbul building collapse
ISTANBUL — At least 10 people were killed in the collapse of a multi-story building in Istanbul, according to reports from pro-government media late Thursday.
The residential building came crashing down on Wednesday afternoon in Kartal, a densely populated district on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Ali Yerlikaya, Istanbul’s governor, had said hours earlier that the tragedy had claimed six lives.
A second night of intense rescue work was underway, with the head of the disaster management agency AFAD, Mehmet Gulluoglu, saying that rescuers could not determine how many more people remained trapped under the debris.
Yerlikaya said the number of people rescued stood at 13. The condition of two of three people listed as being in critical condition was improving.
On Thursday, 5-year-old Havva Tekgoz was rescued from the debris after 18 hours, according to state news agency Anadolu. Broadcast images showed her blinking as she was carried out on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace, to a waiting ambulance.
The governor told reporters Thursday evening that Havva was reunited with her mother, who was rescued Wednesday. Local media had videos of the terrified mother shouting “Is Havva alive?” as she was being brought to safety.
NTV reported she was the second child to be rescued. A 9year-old boy was saved Wednesday.
Addressing reporters at the site of the accident, Yerlikaya said earlier Thursday that the girl had been talking to rescue crews from under the debris.
Search crews were asking bystanders to remain silent so that any screams for help from survivors could be heard.
Broadcast images showed police stopping a distraught man who said his children were under the rubble, as worried family members gathered around, crying.
The search was stopped three times in the middle of the night because there was a risk to neighboring apartments, prompting workers to evacuate seven buildings.
Special teams were using lasers to scan an adjacent 10storey building that was deemed to be at risk of imminent collapse, Yerlikaya cautioned.
Scores of rescue workers were working at the site overnight, using sniffer dogs.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office has started an investigation into the cause of the collapse. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused it.