Apartment building collapse in Turkey kills 4 members of a family

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ISTANBUL (AP) — A seven-story apartment building in Turkey’s northwestern city of Gebze collapsed early Wednesday, trapping a family of five under the rubble and killing four of them.

State-run TRT news channel identified those who died as members of the Bilir family: father Levent, 43, mother Emine, 37, daughter Hayrunnisa, 14, and son Muhammed Emir, 12.

Rescue personnel saved the eldest sibling, 18-year-old Dilara Bilir, and recovered the bodies of the younger children by Wednesday evening, but the search for the parents continued. Deputy Interior Minister Mehmet Aktas told reporters Thursday morning the bodies of the parents were recovered overnight.

TRT said 627 rescuers were deployed on-site.

While state-run Anadolu Agency stated the cause of the collapse was unknown, Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz suggested to local media the cause might be related to nearby metro construction.

Gebze also lies along the north Anatolian fault line and was one of the main centers hit during 1999’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake, which killed an estimated 18,000 people in total.

Experts have long warned that Turkey’s failure to enforce modern construction codes poses significant risks in earthquake-prone areas.

In January, the collapse of a four-story building in Konya led to two deaths. Shopkeepers who rented the ground floor are currently on trial to determine whether they dismantled supporting columns for more space, a common practice despite severe penalties. They could face up to 22 years in prison if convicted.