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ADIYAMAN – Turkish courts yesterday remanded several building contractors, as well as the owner and three managers of a collapsed hotel following two major earthquakes which took place earlier this month.
In a statement, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Adiyaman – a Turkish province heavily hit by the quakes – said that Ersin Tekin, the contractor of a collapsed building in the city, was ordered to be held in custody by a local court.
Seven people were killed in the building, which was built five years ago. According to the statement, an arrest warrant was issued for another suspect who was allegedly a joint contractor of the same building, reported Anadolu Agency citing the statement.
Similarly, the owner and three managers of the Isias Hotel in the Adiyaman province, where several people died in the rubble – including members of a young volleyball team from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – were also remanded.
Meanwhile, in the southern Adana province, another suspect was also remanded in custody over alleged links to construction defects in collapsed buildings.
At least 39,000 people were killed by two strong earthquakeswhich jolted southern Türkiye on February 6, according to the latest figures.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centred in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.
Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours. – Bernama, February 18, 2023