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Aid worker is among 10 killed in second Turkey earthquake
Source: Agencies |
November 11, 2011, Friday
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A JAPANESE aid worker was among 10 people killed by a second earthquake in eastern Turkey, and angry residents yesterday said authorities should have closed down two hotels damaged by the first temblor.
The demonstration erupted as rescue workers with pick-axes and earth-movers searched for survivors of Wednesday's quake in the same region hit by a quake on October 23 that killed 600 people in the eastern province of Van.
Some 28 people were pulled from the rubble in the provincial capital, also called Van, as rescue efforts began on Wednesday and lasted through the night under high-powered lights. All 10 fatalities occurred in the two collapsed hotels.
Some of those buried were Turkish journalists covering the aftermath of the first earthquake, which left thousands homeless as cold weather began to close in.
Van's most prominent hotel, the five-story Bayram Hotel, survived October's magnitude-7.2 quake with some cracks and a damaged elevator.
But it collapsed in the new, magnitude-5.7 quake, trapping people under tons of concrete and metal.
The Aslan Hotel, a budget operation in Van, also collapsed.
Osman Baydemir, a mayor for the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and a member of a pro-Kurdish opposition party, said: "How is it that these two buildings were not sealed off and were allowed to continue operating? The government must bring those responsible to account."
Residents accused local authorities of failing to inspect damaged buildings properly and called for the resignation of Governor Munir Karaloglu.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay tried to talk to protesters, but he walked away as they booed officials. Riot police then charged the crowd with batons and pepper spray to disperse the protesters.
Atalay said no one knows yet if officials had made a mistake by allowing the hotel to operate after the first quake, and urged patience until a full assessment is done. He said the latest quake knocked down 25 buildings in Van, but only two of those buildings, both hotels, were occupied.
Tough safety codes were approved a decade ago after earthquakes in western Turkey killed 18,000 people, prompting an outcry over the poor quality of construction.
After last month's quake, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the negligence of municipalities, builders and supervisors in respect of building codes amounted to murder.
Turkey's Anatolia agency said Atsushi Miyazaki, of Japan's Association for Aid and Relief, died in hospital after being freed yesterday from the rubble of the Bayram Hotel.
His 32-year-old female colleague, Miyuki Konnai, was rescued alive from the ruins of the same hotel late on Wednesday.
About 1,400 aftershocks have rocked the region since October's earthquake. Many residents have been living in tents despite the cold, too afraid to return home.
The demonstration erupted as rescue workers with pick-axes and earth-movers searched for survivors of Wednesday's quake in the same region hit by a quake on October 23 that killed 600 people in the eastern province of Van.
Some 28 people were pulled from the rubble in the provincial capital, also called Van, as rescue efforts began on Wednesday and lasted through the night under high-powered lights. All 10 fatalities occurred in the two collapsed hotels.
Some of those buried were Turkish journalists covering the aftermath of the first earthquake, which left thousands homeless as cold weather began to close in.
Van's most prominent hotel, the five-story Bayram Hotel, survived October's magnitude-7.2 quake with some cracks and a damaged elevator.
But it collapsed in the new, magnitude-5.7 quake, trapping people under tons of concrete and metal.
The Aslan Hotel, a budget operation in Van, also collapsed.
Osman Baydemir, a mayor for the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and a member of a pro-Kurdish opposition party, said: "How is it that these two buildings were not sealed off and were allowed to continue operating? The government must bring those responsible to account."
Residents accused local authorities of failing to inspect damaged buildings properly and called for the resignation of Governor Munir Karaloglu.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay tried to talk to protesters, but he walked away as they booed officials. Riot police then charged the crowd with batons and pepper spray to disperse the protesters.
Atalay said no one knows yet if officials had made a mistake by allowing the hotel to operate after the first quake, and urged patience until a full assessment is done. He said the latest quake knocked down 25 buildings in Van, but only two of those buildings, both hotels, were occupied.
Tough safety codes were approved a decade ago after earthquakes in western Turkey killed 18,000 people, prompting an outcry over the poor quality of construction.
After last month's quake, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the negligence of municipalities, builders and supervisors in respect of building codes amounted to murder.
Turkey's Anatolia agency said Atsushi Miyazaki, of Japan's Association for Aid and Relief, died in hospital after being freed yesterday from the rubble of the Bayram Hotel.
His 32-year-old female colleague, Miyuki Konnai, was rescued alive from the ruins of the same hotel late on Wednesday.
About 1,400 aftershocks have rocked the region since October's earthquake. Many residents have been living in tents despite the cold, too afraid to return home.
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