A tornado in Antalya, in the south of Turkey, claimed the lives of four construction workers last night in the Kepez district. The weather phenomenon destroyed two containers that were being used as accommodation and toppled a tower crane at a building site. Another worker was injured, whilst the authorities have arrested four people as part of the investigation, including the owner of the construction company and those in charge of the site.
According to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, the incident occurred at around 23:00 local time (21:00 CET) on a street in the Fevzi Çakmak neighbourhood, within the Kepez district, to the north of Antalya. Whilst heavy rain and strong winds were affecting the city centre yesterday evening, a tornado suddenly appeared and struck a construction site with unprecedented force, causing serious damage to property.
The tornado swept away the containers where the workers were staying and caused a tower crane to collapse. Following the incident, numerous medical teams, firefighters, police officers and rescue workers were dispatched to the scene, where they extracted the workers from the containers and transported them to hospital.
Initial reports confirmed the deaths of four people, whilst another was injured. The following day, daylight provided a clearer view of the extent of the damage caused by the tornado.
The victims were watching the derby when they were caught unawares by the tornado
It has emerged that the four workers who died were watching yesterday’s derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe inside one of the containers when the tornado struck. The force of the tornado completely destroyed the containers and hurled the debris many metres away. Some buildings and vehicles in the surrounding area were also damaged.
Three of the deceased were Syrian nationals and the fourth was a Turkish national. The injured person, whose condition is not serious, is also a Turkish national.
A witness living in the neighbourhood described the violence of the storm: “The tornado was so big that you couldn’t see a thing. We heard noises and crashes. My children were standing by the window. When we looked, it was already too late; it looked like a war zone. It’s a huge disaster. The tornado swept things away for many metres”.
The tornado hurled debris hundreds of metres away
The governor of Antalya, Hulusi Şahin, announced the launch of a judicial investigation following the incident in Kepez. He explained that the strong winds and the tornado affected only part of the district and that the phenomenon occurred in an unusual location—in a mountainous area—from where it moved from north-west to south-east.
“Unfortunately, two of the destroyed containers were being used as accommodation for workers. The four workers who were in one of them tragically lost their lives. The worker who was in the other container was rescued with injuries but is doing well. At dawn, we searched the entire area again to check if there was anyone else. Fortunately, we found no further bodies. Nor are there any other injured people,” Şahin told journalists.
“Nine vehicles were damaged by the tornado. Some fragments of the containers were blown as far as the roof of a nursery school, located several hundred metres away. I repeat: hundreds of metres. We are facing an extraordinary natural phenomenon, in which large fragments and people were hurled several metres away,” emphasised the governor of Antalya.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
