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Turkey orders the arrest of more than 130 people involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes

2023-02-12T13:51:50.954Z


The authorities take action amid the anger of the population due to the slowness of the rescue efforts. Six days after the tragedy, survivors continue to emerge, although the death toll in Syria and Turkey exceeds 28,000.


Six days after two earthquakes devastated southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, Turkish authorities took action on Sunday amid public anger over slow rescue efforts, issuing arrest warrants for some 130 people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed and caused the death of thousands of people inside.

The number of fatalities from the quakes amounted to 28,191, while the number of injured exceeded 80,000 on Sunday morning, although the figures will continue to increase with the passing of the hours.

A 23-year-old man is rescued six days after the earthquakes in Hatay, Turkey, on February 12, 2023.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As affected areas continue to complain about the slow pace of rescue efforts, attention is turning to who is to blame for failing to better prepare people in an earthquake-prone region, including Syria's northern fringes decade suffering the ravages of the civil war.

Although Turkey has, on paper, building codes that meet current earthquake engineering standards, they are rarely enforced, which explains why thousands of buildings collapsed on their sides or fell on residents.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay declared late on Saturday that arrest warrants had been issued against 131 people suspected of being responsible for the collapse of the buildings.

[An entire family is rescued alive five days after the earthquake that leaves more than 28,000 dead in Turkey and Syria]

The Turkish Justice Minister, on his side, has promised to punish all those responsible, and prosecutors have begun collecting samples from the buildings in search of evidence about the materials used in the constructions.

The quakes were very powerful, but victims, experts and people across Turkey blame poor construction for exacerbating the devastation.

Authorities detained at Istanbul airport on Sunday two contractors believed to be responsible for the destruction of several buildings in Adiyaman, who were allegedly heading to Georgia, the private DHA news agency and other local media reported.

Two other people were detained in Gaziantep province on suspicion of cutting columns to create additional space in a collapsed building, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

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A day earlier, the Turkish Ministry of Justice announced the creation of several earthquake-related crime investigation offices.

They will be responsible for identifying contractors and others responsible for construction sites, gathering evidence, instructing experts such as architects, geologists and engineers, and checking building and occupancy permits.

On Friday, authorities detained a construction contractor at Istanbul airport before he could board a flight to leave the country.

He participated in the construction of a 12-story luxury building in the historic city of Antakya, in Hatay province, whose collapse has left an untold number of dead.

The arrests could help direct public anger at builders and contractors, diverting attention from the responsibility of state and local officials who allowed these seemingly substandard buildings to go ahead.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already haunted by a runaway economic recession and runaway inflation, faces parliamentary and presidential elections in May.

[Thousands of people offer to adopt a baby who survived the earthquake in Syria]

Survivors, many of whom have lost loved ones, have directed their frustration and anger at the authorities as well.

Rescue teams have been overwhelmed by widespread damage to roads and airports, making the race against time to find people alive among the rubble even more difficult.

Erdogan acknowledged earlier in the week that the initial response has been hampered by extensive damage.

He said the hardest hit area was 310 miles in diameter and 13.5 million people lived in it.

During a tour of cities devastated by earthquakes on Saturday, the president assured that a disaster of this magnitude does not happen often, once again referring to it as the "disaster of the century."

Rescue teams, including those from other countries, continue to survey the rubble in the hope of finding more survivors who could still beat the ever-longer odds.

They use thermal cameras to probe the piles of concrete and metal in deathly silence so they can hear the voices of the trapped.

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Two sisters were pulled from the rubble on Sunday in the city of Adiyaman, 153 hours after the tragedy, according to HaberTurk television, which also broadcast live the rescue of a six-year-old boy from his home in Adiyaman.

The minor was wrapped in a thermal blanket and put in an ambulance.

The person who rescued him, exhausted, took off his surgical mask and took a deep breath, while a group of women cried with joy.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca posted a video of a girl in a navy blue jumper who had been saved.

“Good news at hour 150. Rescued a while ago.

There is always hope, ”he wrote on the social network Twitter.

The efforts of a team of Italian and Turkish rescuers also paid off when they pulled a 35-year-old man from the rubble in the hard-hit city of Antakya.

The man, Mustafa Sarigul, appeared unharmed as he was carried by stretcher to an ambulance, private television NTV reported.

[The earthquake in Turkey and Syria leaves more than 28,000 dead: it is the deadliest in the last decade]

Overnight, a child was also recovered in the town of Nizip near Gaziantep, the state-run Anadolu agency reported, while a 32-year-old woman was rescued from the ruins of an eight-story building in the city of Antakya.

The woman, a teacher named Meltem, ordered tea as soon as she left, according to NTV.

In Kahramanmaras, near the epicenter of the first 7.8-magnitude quake that struck the city early Monday, efforts were focused on reaching a survivor spotted by sniffer dogs under a now-collapsed seven-story building, NTV reported.

However, people found alive were still the rare exception.

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A large makeshift cemetery was being built on the outskirts of Antakya on Saturday.

Bulldozers dug pits in the field as trucks and ambulances loaded with black body bags continually arrived.

The hundreds of graves, barely separated from each other, were marked with simple wooden planks placed vertically on the ground.

The situation across the border, in Syria, is less clear.

The death toll in Syria's northwestern rebel region stands at 2,166, according to the White Helmets rescue group.

The total death toll in Syria stood at 3,553 on Saturday, although the 1,387 deaths recorded in government-controlled parts of the country have not been updated for days.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-02-12

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