Earthquake: 600 contractors and property owners under investigation
More than 600 construction contractors and property owners are now under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed in earthquake that claimed at least 50,000 lives
- More than 160,00 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in the quakes
- Disaster’s impact may have been exacerbated by building of unsafe properties
More than 600 construction contractors and property owners are under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed in the catastrophic earthquake that has claimed at least 50,000 lives.
Yesterday Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 184 suspects had already been arrested.
More than 160,00 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey after the series of devastating quakes, with the worst reaching a magnitude of 7.8.
Some have questioned if the natural disaster’s impact was exacerbated by the building of unsafe properties, which experts have been warning of for years.
In the country construction codes are rarely enforced, meaning that some buildings did not meet the earthquake-engineering standard and resulted in collapsing on civilians.
More than 600 construction contractors and property owners are under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed in the quakes. Pictured: A collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey on 17 February
More than 160,00 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey after the series of devastating quakes. Pictured: A collapsed building in Hatay
Construction experts have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of failing to enforce the building regulations. A failure that has led to widespread devastation.
Among those arrested was a mayor of one of the towns impacted by the quakes, according to Turkish media.
Nine thousand aftershocks are said to have taken place in Turkey since the deadly quake on February 6, with the death toll exceeding 50,000.
Earlier this month it was revealed that the property developer, who built the block of 249 apartments in which former Chelsea star Christian Atsuin died, was arrested.
Mehmet Yasar Coskun was detained at the airport in Istanbul over suspicions about the building’s construction.
He denied fleeing the country and insisted that he was only on his way to Montenegro where he has other projects.
Coskun is said to have stated in leaked testimony that he did not know why the building had failed to withstand the two quakes which hit the region.
His lawyer suggested that the public were looking for scapegoats as Turkish authorities issued 113 arrest warrants connected to construction work across the country.
Pictured: Members of the Uzbek search and rescue team use a dog as they look for a body under the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay
Pictured: A collapsed building after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes at the district of Turkoglu in Kahramanmaras
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