As the death toll from the deadly earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria continues to rise, Turkish authorities have targeted over 130 building contractors who were involved in ‘shoddy and illegal’ construction methods. The death toll from the earthquakes that measured 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale has now crossed 33,000. Over 90,000 are reportedly injured as the rescue efforts continue.
In total, Turkish officials have detained or issued arrest warrants for 131 people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that toppled down and crushed their occupants. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay provided this information late on Saturday.
On Sunday, February 12, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that these people were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the earthquakes. Prosecutors have already started collecting samples from these collapsed building sites to examine the quality of construction material that was used.
Turkey’s construction codes meet current earthquake-engineering standards on paper, but they are very rarely enforced. The evidence of poor implementation of rules was seen as several buildings totally collapsed following the earthquake.
Even though the quakes were very powerful, people across Turkey are blaming the building practices for converting it into a massive tragedy as several buildings collapsed after the tremors.
Earlier, Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced the plan to establish “Earthquake Crimes Investigation” bureaus. The bureaus would aim to identify contractors and others responsible for building works, gather evidence, instruct experts including architects, geologists, and engineers, and check building permits and occupation permits.
Contractors are not the only ones being blamed by Turkish people in the wake of the tragedy. Several Turks are unhappy with the government’s response to the tragedy and the slow pace of the rescue efforts. In response, President Erdogan arrested his critics and even imposed temporary restrictions on the social media platform Twitter.