Turkish police on Friday, February 10, 2023, arrested a a building contractor trying to run out of the country following the collapsed of his apartment in a catastrophic earthquake in Turkiye, state media reported.
Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks devastated much of southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, killing nearly 23,000 people.
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The earthquake flattened thousands of buildings and caused outrage among the victims and the Turkish people about the poor quality of housing.
Ronesans Residence, a luxury high-rise apartment block toppled in Antakya city, Hatay province, has sparked outrage on social media.
Former Ghana international soccer player Christian Atsu, who was trapped in the quake, is believed to be under the rubble of a 12-story building built in 2013.
His sporting director at the Hatayspor club, Taner Savut, was also stranded, local media said.
The date of 2013 is particularly important as Turkey introduced stricter building regulations following the 1999 earthquake in northwestern Turkey that killed more than 17,000 people.
State news agency Anadolu reported that agents arrested businessman Mehmet Yasar Coskun at Istanbul airport as he tried to flee to Montenegro.
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He is believed to have been carrying an unspecified amount of cash, but the agency did not say exactly why police arrested him.
Turkish media reported “many” people were still under the building’s rubble and rescue efforts continued at the site, adding that the building also caused damage to others. when it crashes.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with BBC News, Christian Atu’s wife sadly revealed that she last spoke to her husband two days before the incident last Saturday.
She explained that Christian Atu’s manager had confirmed to her that some people were still alive under the Hatay Renaissance building where her husband is now confined, but unfortunately no rescue The Corps did not have the necessary equipment to rescue these people.
