A lawsuit has been filed against 7 defendants related to the site that caused the death of 526 people in the earthquake! There was no soil survey report.

On February 6, 2023, a lawsuit was filed against 7 defendants, one of whom is a fugitive, for "causing the death of multiple people by conscious negligence" regarding the collapse of 43 blocks in the 600 Evler Site in Hatay, where 526 people lost their lives during the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş.

UP TO 22 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS IN PRISON REQUESTED

Regarding the collapse of 43 out of 57 five-story blocks of the 600 Evler Housing Cooperative, known as "600 Evler Site" in the Güzelburç neighborhood of Antakya district, the investigation conducted by the Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Earthquake Investigation Bureau has been completed. In the indictment, it was stated that 526 people lost their lives due to the collapse of 43 blocks, and the defendants G.D, H.S, K.M, M.Y, M.C, and Ş.S, who were reported to have constructed unauthorized attic floors in blocks 1, 8, 41, and 53 where they resided, are requested to be sentenced to up to 22 years and 6 months in prison for "causing the death of multiple people by conscious negligence."

INDICTMENT ACCEPTED

In the expert report, it was stated that the fugitive Ö.R, who was responsible for construction, technical responsibility, architectural project author, and technical application supervisor in the collapsed blocks, is also requested to be sentenced to 4 times imprisonment for the same crime, and the indictment was accepted by the Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court.

In the indictment, it was noted that due to the deaths of Y.S.K, who was mentioned as the construction responsible and technical responsible in the license documents, and Z.E. and S.G., who were stated to have worked as contractors in the party statements, no prosecution was initiated, and a decision of non-prosecution was made for 36 suspects.

The indictment recorded that construction of 30 of the collapsed blocks began in 1989, 9 in 1990, 3 in 1992, and one in 1997.

COLLAPSED DUE TO HEAVY BEAMS AND WEAK COLUMNS ON GROUND FLOORS

In the indictment, it was stated that 138 people, who were mostly rescued from the rubble, were included as complainants, and an examination was conducted at the site by a committee of experts consisting of construction and geology engineers and an architect under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor.

During the examination, it was found that there was no reinforcement tightening in the column-beam areas of the collapsed blocks as required by regulations, hooks were not made, crushed stone, stone dust, and cement were found in the concrete, and the ground floors collapsed due to heavy beams and weak columns. It was also determined that unreinforced reinforcement was used in the column and wall revealed by excavation. The expert report prepared by Karadeniz Technical University, which was included in the indictment, also noted that there were no ground survey reports for the collapsed blocks and that the reinforcement details were insufficient.

In the indictment, one of the apartment residents, the defendant G.D, claimed his innocence and stated: "My son was residing in the attic. No deaths occurred in the attic apartment that I or my neighbor H.S constructed during the earthquake. We obtained a document from the municipality for the apartment at that time, but we realized after the earthquake that it was not registered."

TRIAL WILL BEGIN IN THE COMING DAYS BEGIN

K.M. claimed that he and his neighbor constructed the additional apartment due to water leaking from the collapsed wooden roof. M.Y. also stated that they collected signatures from the apartment owners to have the leaking roof constructed as a common area in 2022, and when no one paid, they had it constructed and used it themselves, saying: "I did not obtain official permission for the construction of the attic. I applied to the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change for the building usage permit, but they said I missed the deadline. I do not think the attic I constructed had an effect on the building's collapse." Ş.S. also argued that the attic he constructed did not have an effect on the building's collapse.

The trial of the defendants will begin in the coming days.