Probe of shoddy construction begins
Turkish officials target contractors with possible ties to toppled buildings as death toll passes 33K
— Turkish authorities are targeting contractors allegedly linked with buildings that collapsed in the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes as rescuers found more survivors in the rubble Sunday, including a pregnant woman and two children, in the disaster that killed over 33,000 people.
The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes that struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria rose to 33,179 and was certain to increase as search teams find more bodies.
As despair bred rage at the agonizingly slow rescues, the focus turned to assigning blame.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 131 people were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the quakes. While the quakes were powerful, many in Turkey blame faulty construction for multiplying the devastation.
Turkey’s construction codes meet current earthquake-engineering standards, at least on paper, but they are rarely enforced, explaining why thousands of buildings toppled over or pancaked
down onto the people inside.
Among those facing scrutiny were two people arrested in Gaziantep province on suspicion of cutting down columns to make extra room in a building that collapsed, the staterun Anadolu Agency said. The justice ministry said three people were under arrest pending trial, seven were detained and another seven were barred from leaving Turkey.
Two contractors held responsible for the destruction of several buildings in Adiyaman were arrested Sunday at Istanbul Airport while trying to leave the country, the private DHA news agency and other media reported.
One detained contractor, Yavuz Karakus, told reporters: “My conscience is clear. I built 44 buildings. Four of them were demolished. I did everything according to the rules,” DHA quoted him as saying.
Rescuers continued search efforts in hope of finding more survivors who could yet beat the increasingly long odds. Thermal cameras were used on piles of concrete and metal, while rescuers demanded silence so they could hear voices of those trapped.
A pregnant woman was rescued Sunday in hard-hit Hatay province, 157 hours after the first quake, state-broadcaster TRT said, while
HaberTurk television said a woman was found alive after 160 hours Nurdagi, Gaziantep.
HaberTurk showed the rescue of a 6-year-old boy removed from the debris of his home in Adiyaman. An exhausted rescuer removed his surgical mask and took deep breaths as a group of women cried in joy.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca posted a video of a young girl in a navy blue jumper who was rescued. “Good news at the 150th hour. Rescued a little while ago by crews. There is always hope!” he tweeted.
Rescuers in hard-hit Antakya, in Hatay province, pulled out a man from the rubble after hearing voices. Workers said the man, in his late 20s or 30s, was one of nine still trapped in the building. But when asked whether he knew of any others, he said he hadn’t heard any voices for three days.
He waved weakly as he was passed hand to hand on a stretcher as workers applauded and chanted, “God is great!”
German and Turkish workers rescued an 88-year-old in Kirikhan, German news agency dpa reported. Italian and Turkish rescuers found a 35-year-old man in Antakya who appeared unscathed, private NTV television reported.
Overnight, a child was freed in the town of Nizip, in Gaziantep, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, while a 32-year woman was rescued from the ruins of a eight-story building in Antakya.