42 people died in the Osmaniye earthquake: 'River sand' was used in the building

Kahramanmaraş The investigation conducted by the Osmaniye Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the contractor Hüner A. (79) and the technical supervisor Mehmet T. (70) of the 12-story Çomu Plaza A Block Apartment in the Esenevler neighborhood, which collapsed in the 7.7-magnitude earthquake centered in Pazarcık, resulting in 42 deaths and 6 injuries, has been completed.

The indictment prepared against the defendants for the crime of "causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence" with a request for up to 22 years and 6 months in prison each has been accepted by the Osmaniye 4th High Criminal Court.

FOREIGN MATERIALS WITHIN THE CONCRETE

In the expert report included in the indictment, it was stated that the concrete quality of the building was observed to be poor, and that during the core sampling process, there were foreign materials within the concrete that did not comply with concrete technology and could constitute a weakness.

The report stated that during the core sampling process, mud flowed out along with the core water, and therefore it was seen that there were excessive foreign materials, especially fine materials, in the concrete of the reinforced concrete elements.

TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR AND CONTRACTOR HELD RESPONSIBLE

The report, which concluded that the A Block building collapsed due to inadequacies in design and material specifications, application and workmanship errors, and deficiencies in building inspection, included the following statements:

"It has been concluded that the static project author and the authorities approving the static reinforced concrete project are responsible because the stirrup calculations, lap lengths, floor and load-bearing system in the static calculation of the building did not comply with the provisions of the 1975 Regulation on Structures to be Built in Disaster Areas, and that the technical supervisor and the contractor of the structure are responsible because the existing concrete strength did not meet the concrete class and reinforcement conditions foreseen in the static project."

"IF DEFECTIVE MATERIALS HAD BEEN USED, B BLOCK WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED"

In his statement included in the indictment, the building's technical supervisor, Mehmet T., stated that he was responsible for applying the measurements, iron, and concrete specified in the project and for checking that they were applied, and argued that he built the building using the highest technique of those years.

Noting that there was no ready-mixed concrete in 1993 when the construction took place, and that concrete was poured using materials brought from the Ceyhan River and a concrete mixer, Mehmet T. explained that he was constantly at the head of the workers during the construction phase.

Mehmet T. claimed that no defective materials were used in the construction of the building, stating that in such a case, the B block, which remained standing, should also have collapsed.

The indictment, which states that contractor Hüner A. and technical supervisor Mehmet T. are responsible for the deaths and injuries in the apartment on the grounds that they "carried out work contrary to the legislation and construction technique," requested that the defendants be punished for the crime of "causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence."