Turkey began issuing detention warrants for developers who constructed some buildings that collapsed in two massive earthquakes that struck the southeastern region nearly a week ago.
(Bloomberg) — Turkey began issuing detention warrants for developers who constructed some buildings that collapsed in two massive earthquakes that struck the southeastern region nearly a week ago.
The death count in Turkey and neighboring Syria neared 30,000. Search and rescue operations are still continuing, with Turkish and Romanian teams pulling a 35-year-old man out of the rubble in Hatay province 149 hours after the quake.
Key Developments
- Why Turkey’s Next Election Is a Real Test for Erdogan: QuickTake
- Turkish Anger Turns to Erdogan Over Quake Delays, Weak Buildings
- Quake Aid Is Political Pawn as Powers Clash Over Syria Access
- Turkish Opposition Targets Market Regulators After Stock Turmoil
- Turkey Wants Russian Green Light for Faster Aid Flow Into Syria
- Turkey’s Main Opposition Files Complaint Over Twitter Blackout
(All times Istanbul, GMT+3)
Miracle Survivors in Hatay, Gaziantep (8:54 a.m.)
A team from Romania and Turkish troops rescued a 35-year-old man from the wreckage of a collapsed building 149 hours after the quakes. In Gaziantep, a child was pulled from under the rubble 146 hours after the temblors, according to state news agency Anadolu.
Turkey Goes After Builders, Others for Shoddy Construction (1:10 a.m.)
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said 113 detention warrants were issued for suspects in investigations against those deemed responsible for shoddy construction in the quake area.
On Friday, the Turkish bar association filed a criminal complaint against builders, auditors and administrative officials responsible for such buildings, saying that their negligence amounted to manslaughter.
Death Toll Climbs Above 29,000 (1:12 a.m.)
The death toll in Turkey from the two quakes rose to over 24,600, Anadolu News Agency cited Vice President Oktay as saying. In Syria, the death toll is 5,189, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of activists on the ground.
Thousands of people are still missing, some 80,000 are injured and more than 6,400 buildings in Turkey have been destroyed, according to government figures. The death toll has now far exceeded that of the 1999 earthquakes near Istanbul, when about 18,000 people died, according to official figures.
Austria Resumes Rescue Operations Hours After Halting Them (7:57 p.m.)
Austrian troops restarted rescue operations after receiving security guarantees, Michael Bauer, an Austrian army spokesman, said on Twitter. Austria earlier cited “an increasingly difficult security situation” in the southern province of Hatay for suspending the involvement of the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit. Two German rescue groups also suspended rescue operations seeking security guarantees.
Ceyhan Loading of BTC Oil May Begin in 2 Days, Reuters Says (7:34 p.m.)
Turkey’s Ceyhan port may resume loading oil from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in one or two days, Reuters reported, citing a Turkish official and a person involved in shipping, without identifying them.
UN Official Expects Death Count to Double (3:23 p.m.)
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths predicts the death count will “double or more,” he said in an interview with Sky.
He described the scene as “a tangle of terrible rubble, which conceals those who we fear to find and makes getting to those dangerous for these heroic people who are doing this 24/7.”
Turkish Universities Go Online Until Summer (2:50 p.m.)
Turkish universities will move classes online until summer to free up accommodation for survivors, according to President Erdogan.
All university campus dormitories will be used for sheltering people affected by the earthquakes, Erdogan said.
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