Two people have died, and 10 people have been rescued after three floors of a seven-story building partially collapsed in Istanbul’s Maltepe district early Thursday, authorities said.
The building on Doğu Street in the Cevizli neighborhood collapsed at around 5:40 a.m. local time for an undetermined reason, prompting the deployment of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), firefighters, police, medical teams and the National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE).
According to the Istanbul Governor’s Office, the building was constructed in 1987 and consisted of a ground floor and six upper floors. The ground floor was used as a workplace, while the upper floors contained 12 apartments.
Population registry records show that 33 people were registered as living in the building, including 14 registered in the four apartments directly affected by the collapse. Some residents registered at the building were outside the city when the incident occurred.
Rescue teams evacuated residents from the unaffected upper floors and launched a search of the collapsed section.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said 30 people had been brought out of the building, either by rescue teams or on their own, including the two people who died.
Three people remain inside the building, Gül said, as rescue teams continue searching the collapsed section.
"The building has shifted sideways and is at risk of collapse,” Gül said during his second visit to the scene in the afternoon.
He said a small fire had also broken out in the basement, while rescue teams were working carefully to protect both those trapped inside and the personnel involved in the operation.
Gül said supports had been placed underneath the building to prevent another collapse and that authorities would begin demolishing the structure in a controlled manner from the top.
"First, they will reduce the weight of the building from above, while at the same time continuing efforts to reach the three residents through tunnels opened underneath, as they have been doing since this morning,” he said.
The rescue operation involves 56 firefighting vehicles and 175 personnel, as well as five AFAD vehicles and 25 personnel. K-9 search and rescue dogs are also being used to locate people under the rubble.
A firefighter who fainted during the operation was taken to a hospital.
Authorities have evacuated nearby buildings considered at risk as a precaution. Roads leading to the site have also been closed to traffic, while heavy machinery from nearby municipalities has been brought in to support the operation.
Investigation launched
The Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a judicial investigation into the collapse, with a deputy chief prosecutor and a prosecutor assigned to the case.
The building’s architect and site manager have been detained as part of the investigation.
Gül said judicial and administrative investigations would determine whether the building had the necessary permits and whether any unauthorized construction was involved.
He added that authorities had initially reported that two floors were unauthorized but that there was no confirmed information on the issue at this stage.