ISTANBUL — Rescuers retrieved the bodies of a 23-year-old woman and a man presumed to be her husband from the debris of a collapsed apartment complex in central Turkey on Saturday, according to reports from state media.
In addition to the fatalities, three other individuals were successfully rescued from the rubble and are currently receiving medical attention in a nearby hospital, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
This incident has sparked renewed concern about building safety standards, particularly following a tragic fire earlier in the week that resulted in the deaths of 78 people at a ski resort hotel. Authorities are presently investigating whether adequate fire safety measures had been installed at the hotel.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that there were 79 residents officially registered at the four-story building located in Konya, a city approximately 260 kilometers (160 miles) south of Ankara.
Yerlikaya noted that the final two individuals believed to be trapped in the ruins were Syrian nationals; the precise reason behind the building’s collapse remains unclear at this moment. He assured journalists, “If there is a fault, negligence, or anything else, we will discover it together.”
Television footage captured the efforts of emergency responders meticulously searching through a vast mound of debris on Saturday morning following the building’s collapse the previous evening. Furthermore, Anadolu Agency reported that four individuals associated with businesses on the building’s ground floor have been detained in connection with the ongoing investigation.
The community is also on edge as the second anniversary of a devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria approaches, which took the lives of over 59,000 people. The extensive fatalities were largely attributed to the disregard for building safety regulations at the time.
Historically, building safety has been a critical issue in the region; a 12-story apartment in Konya collapsed in 2004, leading to the deaths of 92 people and injuring an estimated 30 others. This earlier disaster was similarly blamed on structural deficiencies and negligence.
