Extra floor added to Isias Hotel
In the indictment seeking up to 22 years and 6 months in prison for 11 defendants regarding the Isias Hotel in Adıyaman—which collapsed during the February 6 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, resulting in the deaths of 72 people—it was stated that the hotel was initially licensed as a residence and an extra floor was added at a later date.
12punto
The indictment, prepared by the Adıyaman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, seeks prison sentences ranging from 2 years and 8 months to 22 years and 6 months for 11 defendants, 5 of whom are in custody, on charges of "causing the death and injury of more than one person with conscious negligence" regarding the Isias Hotel, where 72 people, including athletes, teachers, and tour guides from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), lost their lives in the earthquakes. The indictment includes expert reports.
The indictment states that the hotel's license was initially issued as a "residence" on January 5, 1993, but was renewed as a hotel on November 8, 2001. It further notes, "It is observed from the information and documents in the file that an unlicensed floor was added to the structure in 2016, increasing the total number of floors from 9 to 10, and it has been determined that this added floor was 410 square meters."
ADDED A FLOOR AND INCREASED THE LOAD
The indictment, which mentions that renovations were carried out at different times after the hotel began operations, states, "It is understood that with the changes made in 2014-2015, there was an increase in the hotel's capacity, and furthermore, in 2016, an unlicensed floor was built outside the project, ignoring earthquake safety, which placed an additional load on the building's load-bearing system. The expert examination conducted determined that the concrete quality of the structure did not meet the necessary requirements under either regulation. It is understood that these inadequacies and deficiencies were effective in the collapse of the building."
The trial of the defendants, who denied the accusations in their statements included in the indictment, will begin in the coming days at the 3rd High Criminal Court.