Rescuers pulled a few survivors, including a pregnant woman and two children, from the rubble of buildings six days after an overwhelming earthquake struck Turkey. Meanwhile, Turkish judicial authorities are investigating more than 130 people allegedly involved in illegal construction activities.
The death toll from Monday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose to 33,179 on Sunday, while more than 92,600 were injured.
The rescue operation is still going on. For the last five days, rescuers have been working tirelessly in the bitter cold to rescue people buried under the debris.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that 134 people were being investigated for alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that collapsed in the earthquake, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported. He said three people have been arrested and seven people have been detained.
Turkey’s Justice Minister said those responsible for the collapse of the buildings would not be spared. Prosecutors have begun collecting samples of the building’s debris for evidence about the materials utilized in construction. Private news agency DHA and other media reported that authorities at Istanbul airport detained two contractors responsible for the destruction of several buildings in Adıyaman on Sunday. According to the news, both of them were allegedly on the run to Georgia.
“My intentions are clear,” Yavuz Karakas, one of the arrested contractors, told reporters on Sunday, the DHA reported. I built 44 buildings. Four of these were destroyed. I have done everything according to the rules.”
Authorities in Gaziantep province on Sunday detained two people suspected of chopping down a pillar to make room for an extra room in a building in Gaziantep province, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Meanwhile, the German government wants to temporarily ease visa restrictions for earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria.
German Interior Minister Nancy Feger tweeted late on Saturday, “We are extending a helping hand in times of crisis. We want to make it possible for Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring direct relatives from the disaster area.”
(The IBC NewsTV team may have changed just the report’s headline and cover image; the remaining text was created automatically from a syndicated feed.)