This is the moment Turkish police arrested a property developer as he tried to flee the country after his apartment block collapsed during the earthquake.
131 arrest warrants were issued after allegations that developers flouted regulations designed to encourage a construction boom.
The death toll in Turkey has surpassed 28,000 since Monday’s earthquake – thousands were crushed by collapsed buildings – but there are fears that number could reach 50,000.
Video footage shows the arrest of Mehmet Yasar Coskun on Friday at Istanbul Airport as he attempted to leave the country for Montenegro.
Coskun is the developer of the Ronesans apartment block that collapsed in Antakya.
Video footage shows the arrest of Mehmet Yasar Coskun on Friday at Istanbul Airport as he attempted to leave the country for Montenegro
Coskun is the developer of the Ronesans apartment block that collapsed in Antakya
The video also shows Saturday’s arrest of Mehmet Ertan Akay, the developer of the Ayşe Mehmet Polat housing complex that collapsed in the city of Gaziante
The video also shows another man, Mehmet Ertan Akay – the developer of the Ayşe Mehmet Polat residential complex that collapsed in the city of Gaziantep – who was arrested on Saturday.
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said overnight that 131 suspects have been identified as responsible for the collapse of buildings in the 10 provinces hit by last Monday’s tremors.
“Arrest warrants have been issued for 113 of them,” he said at a briefing at the Coordinating Center for Disaster Management in Ankara.
‘We will be following this closely until the necessary legal proceedings are completed, particularly for buildings that have sustained serious damage and buildings that have caused deaths and injuries.’
Turkish police have already taken at least 12 people into custody – with unrest disrupting rescue efforts in some places.
Before and after photos show the devastation caused by the earthquake in the collapsed apartment complex in the city of Gaziantep. The block’s protégé, Mehmet Ertan Akay, was arrested on Saturday
Mehmet Yasar Coskun is the developer of the Ronesans apartment block that collapsed in Antakya
Experts have been warning for years that many new buildings in Turkey are unsafe due to widespread corruption and government policies.
According to the BBC, these guidelines allowed so-called amnesties for contractors who circumvent building codes to encourage a construction boom — even in earthquake-prone regions.
Thousands of buildings collapsed during the quake, raising the question of whether the impact of the natural disaster was compounded by human error.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has acknowledged shortcomings in the response, but apparently blamed fate on a visit to a disaster area.
“Things like that have always happened. It’s part of fate’s plan,’ he said.
Police in Turkey have issued 131 arrest warrants for contractors after thousands of buildings collapsed over claims they flouted regulations encouraging a construction boom
For years, experts have warned that many new buildings in Turkey are unsafe due to widespread corruption and government policies
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acknowledged shortcomings in the response but apparently blamed fate on a visit to a disaster area
Tens of thousands of rescue workers are combing devastated neighborhoods today despite the freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions
Now, six days after the quake, the situation is growing more desperate as tens of thousands of rescue workers comb through devastated neighborhoods despite the freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions.
Thousands remain trapped yesterday after German rescue workers and the Austrian army halted search operations over clashes between unnamed factions – they are expected to turn violent as food supplies dwindle in the coming days.
“There is increasing aggression between factions in Turkey,” said Austrian Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis. “The chance of saving a life is disproportionate to the safety risk.”
The search for survivors has now resumed under the protection of the Turkish army.
In southern Turkey and northern Syria, millions are homeless and temperatures fall below freezing every night.
The UN warned more than 800,000 people are without adequate meals, while its local aid agency warned that the final death toll from the quake is likely to double.
In Syria, the death toll has now passed the 3,500 mark, but no new figures have been released since Friday.
Thousands of buildings collapsed during the quake, raising the question of whether the impact of the natural disaster was compounded by human error
The death toll has surpassed 28,000 since Monday’s earthquake, but there are fears that number could reach 50,000