The police in Turkey have confirmed that it has arrested and detained 12 people over collapsed buildings in the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, following the huge quake that hit the country.
According to official reports, those taken into custody included contractors, DHA news agency said.
No fewer 6,000 buildings collapsed after a 7.8-magnitude tremor hit the region, killing more than 25,000 people, sparking anger over the poor quality of housing.
There are expected to be more detentions after the public prosecutor in Diyarbakir, one of 10 southeastern provinces affected by the quake, issued arrest warrants for 29 people on Saturday, state news agency reported.
One of those detained Saturday was a contractor for a building in Gaziantep, the agency said, adding he was found by police in Istanbul.
Read Also: Death Toll In Syria, Turkey Earthquake Soars To 2,300
There have been a wave of investigations launched by prosecutors in provinces impacted including Kahramanmaras where Pazarcik district was at the epicentre of the quake.
Turkey’s justice ministry has ordered prosecutors in the 10 provinces to establish special ‘earthquake crimes investigation offices’.
On Friday, Turkish police apprehended a contractor of a block of high-rise luxury flats that toppled over in Hatay province.
He was detained at Istanbul airport after reportedly trying to flee the country.
In another report, Africa Today News, New York can confirm that freezing temperatures deepened the misery for survivors of a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed at least 15,000 people, as rescuers raced to save countless people still trapped under rubble.
The death toll from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake is expected to rise sharply as rescue efforts near the 72-hour mark that disaster experts consider the most likely period to save lives.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday conceded ‘shortcomings’ after criticism of his government’s response to the massive earthquake, which is one of the deadliest this century.