The fugitive engineer of the apartment building, where 26 people lost their lives, has been captured.

In the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 26 people lost their lives due to the collapse of the Yağmur Apartment located in the Cumhuriyet Neighborhood of the Kırıkhan district of Hatay. The investigation initiated by the Kırıkhan Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the incident was completed last month, and the prepared indictment requested up to 15 years of imprisonment for 8 people on charges of "causing death and injury by negligence."

CAPTURED IN ISTANBUL

Among the 8 individuals mentioned in the indictment, construction engineer Mehmet Yunus was detained by the teams of the Wanted Persons Bureau during an operation conducted in Şişli the day before. It was learned that there were 44 separate search warrants against Mehmet Yunus.

REFERRED TO THE COURT

Mehmet Yunus was first taken to the Public Order Branch Directorate, and after his procedures, he was sent to the Şişli District Police Department. After completing his procedures here, he was referred to the courthouse. It was learned that the first hearing regarding the Yağmur apartment will begin on February 13, 2025.

INDICTMENT PREPARED

The expert report included in the indictment stated that the Kırıkhan Municipality had issued building permits five times. It was noted that a new building permit was granted in 1996, and between 2001 and 2006, a renewal building permit was issued, allowing construction for a basement and three upper floors. It was determined that an additional two floors were permitted with the license granted on March 28, 2011, and later, an additional floor was permitted with the license granted on August 7, 2015. It was learned that there were no static analysis reports or static calculations regarding the mentioned building permits in the building's zoning archive file.

The report emphasized that a performance analysis of the existing structure is essential within the framework of the provisions specified in Article 7 of the 2007 Earthquake Regulation concerning the additional floor permits granted with the licenses issued in 2011 and 2015. However, it was highlighted that there were no documents or information regarding such a study and performance analysis report in the zoning archive file included in the case file.