Five dead as bottom of Istanbul building crumbles
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A partially collapsed building is demolished in an effort to reach any remaining people believed to be trapped inside in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct 8.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Five people, including three children, died when the bottom of an Istanbul building collapsed and the top floors stayed on the rubble.
- Nine people were rescued alive, and rescue work ended after the last body was found at 6.15am, the city governor’s office said.
- Officials said the building was built in 1987, later floors were added, and 55 nearby residents were evacuated amid wider fears over unsafe buildings.
AI generated
ISTANBUL – Five people, including three children, were killed in an Istanbul building collapse that saw the bottom storeys crumble and the top floors remain perched on the rubble, officials said on Oct 9.
The collapse occurred early on Oct 8 on the Asian side of the sprawling metropolis, the city governor’s office said.
“Search and rescue operations in the area under the rubble... ended after the discovery of the last victim’s body at 6.15am,” the city governor’s office said.
Two girls aged five and 10, a boy of 12 and two other people died in the collapse, while nine people were pulled alive from the rubble.
The collapse saw the bottom three storeys cave in, with the top four storeys perched on top.
“The building was built in 1987,” Nuri Aslan, Istanbul deputy mayor, told reporters. “The basement, ground floor and first two floors were built in accordance with the norms at the time, but the other floors were added later.”
Fifty-five people living around the accident site have been evacuated as a precaution.
According to Turkish media, the manager of a shop on the ground floor of the building said she had noticed cracks in the structure since April.
Local media estimate that up to 1,200 structures in Istanbul could collapse because of faulty construction or materials.
In August an empty building collapsed in the city without causing any casualties. AFP