Hope gives way to frustration in Turkey as rescue efforts continue

Turkish justice officials are targeting more than 130 people for alleged involvement in reckless and illegal construction methods as rescuers rescued more survivors, including a pregnant woman and two children, six days after a pair of earthquakes toppled thousands of buildings.

The combined death toll from Monday’s quake that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria was more than 33,000 on Sunday and is expected to rise as search teams find more bodies in the rubble. Authorities said more than 92,600 others were injured in the disaster.

As despair has also fueled anger at the slow pace of rescue efforts, the focus has shifted to who is to blame for failing to prepare people in earthquake-prone areas that include parts of Syria that have been wracked by years of civil war.

Although Turkey has, on paper, construction codes that meet current earthquake engineering standards, they are rarely enforced, explaining why thousands of buildings have collapsed on their sides or fallen onto residents.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that 134 people are being investigated for alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the earthquake, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. He said three people were arrested pending trial, seven were detained and seven others were banned from leaving the country.

Bozdag has vowed to punish whoever is responsible, and prosecutors have begun collecting building samples for evidence of materials used in construction. The quake was powerful, but victims, experts and people across Turkey blamed bad construction for adding to the damage.

The contractor was detained at the airport

Authorities at Istanbul Airport on Sunday detained two contractors responsible for destroying several buildings in Adiyaman, DHA news agency and other media reported. The couple reportedly went to Georgia.

One of the arrested contractors, Yavuz Karakus, told reporters on Sunday: “I understand clearly. I built 44 buildings. Four of them were demolished. I did everything according to the rules,” DHA news agency reported.

Two other people were arrested in Gaziantep province on suspicion of cutting columns to make extra room in a collapsed building, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

A day earlier, the Turkish Minister of Justice announced the planned establishment of the “Earthquake Crime Investigation” bureau. The bureau will identify contractors and others responsible for building work, collect evidence, instruct experts including architects, geologists and engineers, and review building permits and occupancy permits.

The building contractor was detained by authorities on Friday at Istanbul Airport before he could board a flight out of the country. He has built a 12-story luxury building called Ronesans Rezidans in the historic city of Antakya, in Hatay province. When it came down, it left many dead. He was officially arrested on Saturday.

In a leaked testimony published by Anadolu, the man said that the building followed regulations and that he did not know that the building was not earthquake resistant. His lawyer suggested the public look for a scapegoat.

The rescue team was overwhelmed

The arrests could help stoke public anger against builders and contractors, deflecting attention from local and state officials who have allowed seemingly sub-standard construction to go ahead. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already burdened by an economic downturn and high inflation, faces parliamentary and presidential elections in May.

Survivors, many of whom have lost loved ones, have also turned their frustration and anger against the authorities. Rescue crews have been overwhelmed by the widespread damage that has affected roads and airports, making it harder to race against the clock.

Erdogan admitted earlier in the week that the initial response had been hampered by extensive damage. He said the most affected area is 500 kilometers in diameter and home to 13.5 million people in Turkey.

During a tour of cities damaged by the earthquake on Friday, Erdogan said that a disaster of this scope is rare, and he again called it the “disaster of the century.”

Rescuers, including crews from other countries, continue to search the wreckage in the hope of finding additional survivors who may still be able to overcome the growing odds. Thermal cameras were used to investigate piles of concrete and metal, while rescuers demanded silence so they could hear the voices of those trapped,

A pregnant woman was rescued on Sunday, 157 hours after the earthquake in Hatay province, state broadcaster TRT said.

HaberTurk television broadcast the rescue of a six-year-old boy who was thrown from the rubble of his home in Adiyaman. The child was wrapped in a space blanket and placed in an ambulance. The exhausted rescuer removed his surgical mask and took a deep breath as the woman was heard crying out in joy.

Turkey’s health minister, Fahrettin Koca, posted a video of a young girl in a navy blue jumper who was rescued. “Good news at hour 150. Rescued a while ago by the crew. There’s always hope!” said on Twitter.

Rescue workers pulled out a man in Antakya, hours after hearing voices from under the rubble. Workers said the man, who appeared to be in his late 20s or 30s, was one of nine still trapped in the building. But when asked if he knew of any other survivors, he said he hadn’t heard a voice in three days.

The man slowly waved his hands as his hands were raised on the stretcher as the workers applauded and chanted, “God is great!”

Artificial graves

But those found alive remain a rare exception.

A large makeshift cemetery is being built on the outskirts of Antakya on Saturday. Backhoes and bulldozers dug up bikes in the fields while trucks and ambulances carrying black body bags came steadily. Hundreds of graves, no more than a meter apart, are marked with simple wooden boards set vertically into the ground.

Hatay Airport, whose runway was damaged by the earthquake, reopened on Sunday, the Transportation Minister said. That should help get help to the area.

The picture is less clear about the situation on the border in Syria.

Martin Griffiths, the UN secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who visited the Turkey-Syria border on Sunday, said Syrians were left “searching for international aid that has yet to come.”

“You have now failed the people of northwestern Syria. They feel abandoned,” he said, adding, “Our task and obligation is to rectify this failure as soon as possible.”

The first UN convoy arrived in northwestern Syria from Turkey on Thursday, three days after the earthquake.