Nearly 200 Individuals Arrested Over Alleged Poor Construction Following Quake

In Turkey, nearly 200 people have been arrested due to alleged poor construction following the destructive earthquake on February 6.

The earthquake killed nearly 50,000 people across Syria and Turkey, and there have since been aftershocks.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry stated that 626 people have been listed as suspects after buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged. Though police are hunting for many suspects, some were killed in the disaster.

More than 160,000 buildings completely collapsed or were damaged following the 7.8 magnitude quake, which hit close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep.

Nearly three weeks after the quake, people have begun to question the building’s constructors.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag stated at a press conference that 79 contractors, 74 people who bear legal responsibility for buildings, 13 property owners, and 18 people who made changes to the buildings have been arrested.

Now nearly a month after the quake, the head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Yunus Sezer, stated that search and rescue efforts for survivors will come to an end.

“In many of our provinces, search and rescue efforts have been completed,” said Yunus Sezer, chief of Turkey’s disaster agency.

Both countries are transitioning from search and rescue to long-term recovery, which will be a “long-term effort,” said Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, who visited Turkey following the earthquake.