Turkish authorities have opened an investigation into the collapse of a three-storey building in the Kartaltepe district of Küçükçekmece in western Istanbul, from the wreckage of which emergency crews have pulled the lifeless body of at least one person. The building, built in 1988, had been erected using improper construction techniques and did not have the necessary building permits, according to initial results from the investigation.
The collapse occurred at around 8.40 am local time (7.40 am CET) on Sunday when the building, which had a store on the ground floor, suddenly collapsed, Turkish daily Hürriyet reported. Emergency crews were quickly on the scene and managed to rescue eight people alive from the rubble, but two of them were taken to hospital in critical condition.
After about an hour of searching, rescuers located the lifeless body of one person, whose identity has not been revealed. Footage from a security camera across the street from the building shows several passengers boarding a bus as the building suddenly collapses in a hail of debris.
In response to the incident, the Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced the opening of an investigation to identify the cause of the collapse and possible responsibilities, in case of negligence. Turkey’s Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change, Mehmet Özhaseki, has already confirmed that the building was constructed 36 years ago and that at least one of the upper floors was added illegally – a relatively common practice in all kinds of hastily constructions erected decades ago, during the years of large migrations to Istanbul from Anatolia.
‘Initial on-site inspections indicate that the building, constructed in 1988, was built without following architectural and engineering standards, using sea sand for its construction, and with several subsequent interventions that have compromised the structural integrity of the building,’ the minister said. The mayor of this district of Istanbul, Kemal Çelebi, confirmed that the top floor of the collapsed building ‘is illegal’ and did not have the necessary licences.
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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.
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