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Turkey launches investigation into 612 people after quake

Published:Saturday | February 25, 2023 | 12:18 PM
A destroyed building leans on a neighbouring house following the earthquake in Samandag, southern Turkey, Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Survivors of the earthquake that jolted Turkey and Syria 15 days ago, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands of others homeless, dealt with more trauma and loss Tuesday after another deadly quake and aftershocks rocked the region. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

ISTANBUL (AP) — Investigations have been launched against more than 600 people in relation to buildings that collapsed in Turkey's catastrophic earthquake earlier this month, a government official said Saturday.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 184 of the 612 suspects had been jailed pending trial.

Those in custody include construction contractors and building owners or managers, he said in televised comments from a coordination centre in Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey.

“The detection of evidence in the buildings continues as a basis for criminal investigation,” Bozdag added.

The aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude quake on February 6, which led to nearly 48,000 deaths in southern Turkey and northern Syria, has seen Turks question the structural integrity of many of the 173,000 buildings that collapsed or were seriously damaged.

Experts have said many toppled structures were built with inferior materials and methods and often did not comply with government standards.

Opposition parties have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration of failing to enforce building regulations.

The mayor of a town close to the epicentre of the earthquake was detained as part of an investigation into collapsed buildings, the Cumhuriyet newspaper and other outlets reported Saturday.

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