30.10.2025 18:55
It has been revealed that a complaint was filed with CİMER (the Communication Center of the Turkish Republic) about the building next to the 7-story apartment that collapsed yesterday in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, resulting in the deaths of 4 people from the same family and the rescue of 1 injured person, 4.5 months ago. It has been learned that inspections were conducted in the building following the complaint.
Sinan Tekin, who lives in the building next to the 7-story apartment that collapsed yesterday in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, where 4 members of the same family died and 1 person was rescued injured, recounted the events before and after the demolition.
IT WAS REVEALED THAT A COMPLAINT WAS MADE TO CIMER Tekin said, "I started to have trouble opening my front door. The door wouldn't close properly; it was hard to close and hard to open. Even my wife couldn't manage it. As the metro work progressed, small cracks began to appear in the walls. Later, these cracks grew and turned into gaps. It got to the point where I could stick my finger out and see the sun. My daughter and I said, 'At least let's file a complaint to CIMER.' Because the situation had become dangerous," he said.
INSPECTIONS WERE CONDUCTED IN THE BUILDING About a month later, after receiving a response, Tekin stated that two people came to their homes accompanied by a professor. "They examined all the columns of the house and took photos. Then they said, 'Mr. Sinan, let the metro work continue. Let's come back in a month and see the results, let's see if the cracks increase.' They came back a month later. They did the same procedures again, taking more photos and videos. I asked, 'When will the report be ready?' They said, 'It will be ready soon.' Then they called my daughter. They hadn't sent the report to us, but they had informed her verbally. They called my daughter and said, 'There has been a 0.6 mm shift in your building. This is very low, at a minimum level. It's a shift that can happen in any building. Therefore, there is nothing we can do. But if you want, we can plaster or paint your building. It's up to you.' Based on this, we continued to live in the house. I plastered the internal cracks myself," he said.
"WE THOUGHT OUR HOUSE HAD COLLAPSED" Describing the moments of the collapse, Sinan Tekin said: "Let's get to the moment of the collapse; I was out of town that day. I got home at 08:30. We were drinking tea. My daughter said, 'Dad, I hear sounds of bricks falling from above, it sounds like something is falling.' I got suspicious and went upstairs. We had previously submitted a petition. I asked, 'Is something happening to the house?' I checked everywhere. There was no debris. I had some items in the gap, and they had fallen to the ground. I was surprised, 'How could they fall?' I thought it was probably a mouse. Meanwhile, the adjacent buildings had started to collapse. The leaning building was pushing against our building from below. That's why bricks were falling between us as the building tilted. We were hearing those sounds. Then we went to sleep because we thought it was a mouse. We woke up around 06:30 for prayer. We took ablution. Just as we were about to start praying, that sound started again. It was like when you turn up the volume of music, starting softly and then reaching a maximum. We were confused about what to do. Since we had previously submitted a petition, we thought our house had collapsed. We panicked. My wife was on one side, I was on the other, and we didn't know what to do. We immediately headed for the door. We opened the door. Small pieces of concrete were falling on us from the outer door. I said, 'Look, there is a problem.' I thought we shouldn't get caught in between because I knew that many people lost their lives in the stairwell during the earthquake. We went back inside, and we took cover. The event lasted about twenty seconds, not more. After it was over, we went back inside. My daughter looked from the balcony and saw that the adjacent building had tilted and collapsed. I was shocked. 'That building is new, 10-12 years old. We immediately grabbed our phones and any necessary items. As we were leaving, we saw that the building below had also shifted and was leaning. There was a gap there."
"THEY PROBABLY HAD NO PLACE TO STAY" Tekin, who stated that he knew the Bilir family, who were trapped under the rubble, said, "The deceased friend was a very good person. I am also from Göynük, and he was from Göynük too. He was a good person. He had recently installed my combi, he was a combi repairman. He was a diligent, decent, and honest person. In fact, I had yelled at him once, and he didn't take offense; he took it very lightly. We would see each other every day. He had been here for about a year. I would see him in the mornings; he was a good person. They came, looked around here, and realized there was a problem. They actually warned. I don't know if they went back home again. Because I was in Düzce that day, I was out of town. I am not very familiar with those sounds, but from the pictures I saw, it seems accurate. I talked to pharmacist friends, and they showed me the distortions in the halls of their building. He also called the contractor. The contractor's officials were called. I don't know who called. They said something like 'Stay put.' They probably had no place to stay. So they didn't say 'Leave.' It seemed like there was an impression that the building would hold. Otherwise, if that child had been told consciously, 'This building is at risk of collapsing,' he definitely wouldn't have stayed. Lives are being lost for no reason. It's a shame; it hurts a person. What can I say anymore?" he said.