Pay wall... but looks like the first few paragraphs suggest the engineers and architects for a specific building were arrested. Something more to the story if it is only these specific people and not widespread.
ADIYAMAN, Turkey—Authorities arrested dozens of contractors, architects and engineers connected to buildings that collapsed in
this week’s earthquakes, Turkish state media reported Saturday, as a top United Nations official warned the death toll could double from the current tally of over 24,000 in Turkey and Syria.
The arrests came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces
growing public anger at the pace of rescue efforts. One of the detained was Mehmet Yasar Coskun, the contractor who built Ronesans Residence, a destroyed building in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, state media reported.
Mr. Coskun, who was detained at Istanbul Airport, said in a statement he had followed all laws and building codes in constructing the apartment building.
Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s emergency relief coordinator, said the death toll was likely to rise significantly. “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I’m sure it will double or more,” he told broadcaster Sky News during a visit to the quake-hit city of Adana in Turkey.
Officials said the
likelihood of finding more survivors was dwindling.
“We are still looking for survivors. But there is probably very, very little chance of finding survivors six days after this catastrophe, especially in the harsh winter conditions of Syria right now,” said a spokesman for the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense group.
In Turkey, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, which is overseeing the response to the earthquake, announced on Thursday the end of search-and-rescue efforts in the southeastern provinces of Sanliurfa and Kilis.
During a visit Saturday to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Mr. Erdogan said the government is redirecting search-and-rescue teams to Kahramanmaras, Hatay and Adiyaman, areas close to the epicenter of the quake.
In Turkey, the death toll of 21,043 has
surpassed that of a 1999 earthquake that devastated the country and
helped propel Mr. Erdogan to power.
Authorities in Syria have reported 3,553 deaths. Thousands more were injured in Monday’s magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes.
The political fallout from the disaster could be significant for Mr. Erdogan, who is facing a tough re-election bid this year after 20 years in power.
Mr. Erdogan has promised to rebuild every home destroyed within a year. On Saturday, he said the government has allocated 100 billion Turkish lira ($5.3 billion) for reconstruction.
“We mobilized all resources of our state,” he said. “Trust us, have faith in us.”
The government’s efforts have been hampered by the sheer size of the affected area, the extent of the devastation and cold winter weather.
Assistance is pouring into the country, with about 141,000 people from 94 countries participating in the rescue effort. So many aircraft bearing aid are arriving in Turkey that some are being diverted hundreds of miles due to a dearth of landing spots.
The country’s disaster-management agency said Friday it had evacuated 75,780 people from quake-hit regions.
Teams sent by Austria and Germany said they had suspended rescue operations due to an increasingly volatile security situation in areas hit by the earthquakes, news organizations in the two countries reported.