Türkiye: Four family members killed in building collapse

Only the 18-year-old girl was able to be pulled alive from the ruins of the seven-story building in Gebze, on the eastern outskirts of Istanbul on the northern shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara, which collapsed Wednesday morning around 07:00 (04:00 GMT).

For the Turkish press, which specifies that metro work was underway in the area, this incident illustrates once again the negligence of public authorities regarding building inspections.

The search, which ended at dawn on Thursday after the discovery of the parents' lifeless bodies, nineteen hours after the accident, was broadcast live by television channels.

The bodies of the two children were quickly recovered.

Twelve neighboring buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

"In total, 913 people, including 628 rescuers, worked tirelessly in a race against time," said Deputy Interior Minister Mehmet Aktas on Thursday morning, announcing the end of the search.

The clearing operations will continue after the conclusion of the investigation conducted by the Kocaeli regional prosecutor's office, he added, without offering any explanation for the collapse.

According to the opposition-aligned newspaper BirGün, "these events once again highlight the shortcomings in building security and control."

According to Turkish media, work was underway in the metro and authorities had been warned the day before of cracks and damage to the building and a pharmacy located on the ground floor.

The issue is particularly sensitive in the country, which is crossed by two major seismic faults.

The last major earthquake, in February 2023, caused the death of at least 53.500 people in the southeast, buried in the rubble of their homes which sometimes collapsed like houses of cards.