Over 300 people arrested in Turkey in connection with earthquakes

Ankara, 23 March 2023, 01:56 — REGNUM More than 300 people have been arrested in Turkey in connection with the collapse of buildings during the February 6 earthquake in southeastern Turkey. This was announced on March 22 by the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with NTV.

The Turkish President specified that investigative measures were launched against 1,364 people, 302 of them were detained, and arrest warrants were issued for 312. According to Erdogan, 106 detainees were contractors in the construction of buildings in a seismic zone, 18 people carried out changes in the structure of buildings.

In addition, the Turkish leader indicated that 64 suspects died from the effects of injuries sustained during the earthquake, and four people are hiding outside of Turkey.

As Erdogan explained, buildings built in close proximity to seismic faults were erected before the adoption of rules governing the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings. The rules were tightened only in 1999, after a devastating earthquake that killed more than 18,000 people in Turkey.

Recall, earthquakes in the south-east of Turkey occurred on February 6, their magnitude was more than 7.0.

Previously IA REGNUM reported that the death toll in the deadly earthquake in Turkey exceeded 50 thousand people.

Read earlier in this story: The number of victims of the deadly earthquake in Turkey exceeded 50 thousand people