Turkish authorities have arrested or detained a number of property developers as the death toll from last week’s catastrophic earthquake soared past 36,000.
The 7.8-magnitude quake that struck southeastern Turkey near the border with Syria last Monday has now caused 31,643 deaths in Turkey, according to the Turkish Emergency Coordination Center SAKOM on Monday. The number of dead in Syria now stands at 4,574, state media said Sunday.
Last week’s earthquake will likely become Turkey’s deadliest – a 1939 quake killed 32,962 people.
Emergency responders have been frantically working to reach residents trapped beneath the rubble in Turkey. In northwest Syria, rescue operations have now ended, the White Helmets volunteer organization said.
As families mourn the loss of loved ones, resentment has grown among those affected and many are now looking to assign blame for the extent of the disaster.
Crackdown on contractors
Amid growing public anger, authorities in Turkey are investigating 163 people in connection with building collapses. Of those under investigation, eight have been arrested and 48 are in police custody, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu.
Eight were arrested pending trial, whose responsibilities were determined by public prosecutors, Anadolu reported. Authorities didn’t provide further details of what they’re being investigated for.
During a visit to Diyarbakir earlier on Monday, Turkey’s justice minister Bekir Bozdag said the public prosecutor’s offices in all earthquake-affected areas were conducting the judicial investigations.
Bozdag explained that “some of the buildings are 30 years old, some are older, some are 20, and some were built more recently, so our municipalities have this information.”
He added: “Audits are subject to the evaluation of this information, and our public prosecutors carry out investigations to determine who is involved in these constructions.”
