This is the moment Turkish police detained a property developer as he tried to flee the country after his apartment block collapsed during the earthquake.
131 arrest warrants have been issued amid claims that property developers ignored regulations to encourage a construction boom.
Turkey’s death toll has passed 28,000 since the earthquake struck on Monday – with thousands crushed by fallen buildings – but there are fears this figure could reach 50,000.
Video footage shows the arrest of Mehmet Yasar Coskun at Istanbul Airport on Friday as he tried to leave the country for Montenegro.
Coskun is the contractor of the Ronesans Residence block which collapsed in Antakya.
Video footage shows the arrest of Mehmet Yasar Coskun at Istanbul Airport on Friday as he tried to leave the country for Montenegro
Coskun is the contractor of the Ronesans Residence block which collapsed in Antakya
The video also shows the arrest on Saturday of Mehmet Ertan Akay, developer of the Ayşe Mehmet Polat apartment complex which collapsed in the city of Gaziante
The video also shows another man, Mehmet Ertan Akay – the property developer of the Ayşe Mehmet Polat apartment complex which collapsed in the city of Gaziantep – being detained on Saturday.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said overnight that 131 suspects had been identified as responsible for the collapse of buildings in the 10 provinces affected by last Monday’s tremors.
‘Detention orders have been issued for 113 of them,’ he said in a briefing at the disaster management coordination centre in Ankara.
‘We will follow this up meticulously until the necessary judicial process is concluded, especially for buildings that suffered heavy damage and buildings that caused deaths and injuries.’
Turkish police have already taken at least 12 people into custody – with the unrest disrupting rescue efforts in some places.
Mehmet Yasar Coskun is the contractor of the Ronesans Residence block which collapsed in Antakya
Before and after photos show the devastation caused after the apartment complex collapsed in the city of Gaziantep. The develop of the block, Mehmet Ertan Akay, was detained on Saturday
Experts warned for years that many new buildings in Turkey were unsafe due to endemic corruption and government policies.
According to the BBC, those policies allowed so-called amnesties for contractors who swerved building regulations, in order to encourage a construction boom – even in earthquake-prone regions.
Thousands of buildings collapsed during the earthquake, raising questions about whether the natural disaster’s impact was made worse by human error.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has admitted shortcomings in the response, but during one visit to a disaster zone he apparently blamed fate.
‘Such things have always happened. It’s part of destiny’s plan,’ he said.
Police in Turkey have issued 131 arrest warrants for contractors, after thousands of buildings collapsed amid claims they ignored regulations to encourage a construction boom
For years experts warned many new buildings in Turkey were unsafe due to endemic corruption and government policies
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan admitted shortcomings in the response, but during one visit to a disaster zone he apparently blamed fate
Tens of thousands of rescue workers are today scouring flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions
Now, six days after the quake hit, the situation is growing more desperate, with tens of thousands of rescue workers scouring flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions.
Thousands remain trapped yesterday after German rescuers and the Austrian army paused search operations because of clashes between unnamed factions – expected to become more violent as food supplies decrease in the coming days.
‘There is increasing aggression between factions in Turkey,’ said Austrian Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis. ‘The chances of saving a life bears no reasonable relation to the safety risk.’
The search for survivors has now resumed under the protection of the Turkish army.
Throughout southern Turkey and northern Syria, millions are homeless and temperatures continue to drop below freezing every night.
The UN warned that more than 800,000 people are without adequate meals, while its aid agency on the ground warned the final death toll from the quake is likely to double.
In Syria, the death toll has now passed 3,500, but new figures have not been published since Friday.
Thousands of buildings collapsed during the earthquake, raising questions about whether the natural disaster’s impact was made worse by human mistakes
The death toll has passed 28,000 since the earthquake struck on Monday but there are fears this figure could reach 50,000
