Turkey building collapse kills two, traps three

A seven-story apartment building collapsed in Gebze, northwestern Türkiye, killing two people and trapping three others under the rubble, officials and state media said.

Gebze Governor İlhami Aktaş had previously said that all five belonged to a single family.

State-run TRT news channel stated that these people were a woman, a man and three children, and reported that 627 rescue teams were assigned to the scene.

According to TRT, rescue teams recovered the body of 12-year-old Muhammed Emir Bilir, but the identity of the other body could not be immediately determined.

While State Anadolu Agency stated that the cause of the collapse is not yet known, Gebze Mayor Zinnur Bıyıklız, speaking to the local press, suggested that the accident may be related to the nearby metro construction.

Gebze is also located on the North Anatolian fault line and was one of the main centers hit by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred in 1999, killing a total of 18,000 people.

Experts have long warned that Türkiye’s failure to implement modern construction codes poses significant risks in earthquake-prone regions.

In January, two people died as a result of the collapse of a 4-storey building in Konya.

The tradesmen who rented the ground floor are currently on trial to determine whether they removed the support columns to make way for more space, a common practice despite heavy fines.

If convicted, they could face up to 22 years in prison.