A seven-storey building collapsed in the early hours of 29 October in the Gebze district of Kocaeli province, in northwestern Turkey, leaving at least five people trapped in the rubble, according to local authorities and rescue teams, who are still struggling to pull all those trapped from the wreckage.
In the last few hours, rescuers managed to pull out alive one of the three children of the family residing in the building, an 18-year-old girl identified as Dilara, who was taken in a conscious state to Gebze’s Fatih hospital. However, the other two children, aged 14 and 9, were found dead. Teams are still searching for the parents, who are still missing, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that 147 search and rescue personnel, including 80 from the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), are working against the clock alongside other teams. Two sniffer dogs, eight motion detectors, two drones and 52 vehicles are also involved in the operation.
The emergency teams are removing the remains of the building with heavy machinery and trucks, pausing periodically to listen for signs of life. A field hospital of the UMKE medical rescue group has also been set up in the area. The governor of Kocaeli, İlhami Aktaş, explained to the media that the cause of the collapse has not yet been determined. “Our priority is to rescue the people trapped under the rubble,” Yerlikaya said, stressing that rescuers are working against the clock to try to locate possible survivors.
Two families were living in the building, but one was away on a trip
Witnesses said they heard voices from inside the rubble as rescuers continued their work. According to initial reports, there were two families living in the building: one was out of town for a wedding, while the other was trapped under the wreckage.
The collapse occurred near a metro construction site, raising questions about whether underground work could have played a role in the collapse. However, the president of the ANKA Search and Rescue Association, Murat Altunorak, said the building “appeared to have partially collapsed on one side before collapsing completely”, pointing to possible structural failures due to poor construction.
Deputy Interior Minister Mehmet Aktaş, later confirmed that while the eldest daughter was rescued alive, “in good general condition and conscious”, her two siblings were found dead in the same room. “Our work continues with intensity. We hope to reach the parents soon. Our hope is to find them alive. At the moment there are no sounds, but we are not losing faith,” he added.
According to witnesses, the collapse of the building occurred at around 07:30 in the morning; the trapped family of five lived on the first floor, while the rest of the flats were empty. In the last hours, footage of the moment the building collapsed has been released by several media.
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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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