Statement from İzmir Metropolitan Municipality on 'electric leakage' deaths: 'Contrary to construction techniques'

The statement highlighted that, "It is documented with photographs that the power lines belonging to GDZ Elektrik A.Ş. were laid 23 cm below the ground, contrary to construction techniques."

The statement issued by the municipality is as follows:

We are deeply saddened by the loss of two of our fellow citizens who were electrocuted on Enver Dündar Başar Street in Konak on July 12, 2024. As the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, we have initiated all necessary investigations in cooperation with the competent authorities to ensure that the causes of this unfortunate incident are determined beyond any doubt and to prevent it from happening again. Official reports on the matter will be shared with the public with full transparency in the coming days.

However, in order to prevent potential disinformation during this sensitive process and to address certain questions, it has become necessary for us to present our initial findings and assessments.

Immediately after the incident, authorized personnel from the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality reached the site and inspected the electrical installation. It was verified that the time relay, which energizes the lighting system at sunset (20:35) and cuts off the energy at sunrise, was working correctly, and therefore, it was confirmed that there was no energy in the lighting system cables at the time of the incident (19:15). Furthermore, our municipality's electrical installation is protected against such dangers by residual current devices that cut off the power. It is also clear that there was no infrastructure work being carried out by our municipality in the area that could be associated with a leakage in the power line.

'POWER LINES BELONGING TO GDZ ELEKTRİK A.Ş. WERE LAID CONTRARY TO CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES'

Indeed, the technical report of the İZSU General Directorate regarding the incident states that 3 rainwater grates were constructed in the region by a contractor firm within the scope of tendered works in January 2024, that a request for an observer was made to GDZ Elektrik A.Ş. during the manufacturing, and that the works were carried out under the supervision of an observer.

The report states that after the construction works, maintenance and repair work was carried out on the power lines next to the rainwater grate by GDZ Elektrik A.Ş., and that citizens had even opened 2 fault records for the mentioned area with GDZ Elektrik A.Ş.

Furthermore, it is documented with photographs that repairs were carried out on the cables at 2 different points and that the power lines belonging to GDZ Elektrik A.Ş. were laid 23 cm below the ground, contrary to construction techniques.

Statements regarding the fact that there were some negative incidents related to electric leakage in the mentioned area and that local tradespeople had repeatedly notified the authorized institution are also on record.

As a matter of fact, according to the initial findings of the technical committee formed by the Chamber of Electrical Engineers İzmir Branch, which went to the field after the incident, it was stated that an insulation fault was identified in the cables running from the transformer centers to the distribution board on the street where the incident occurred, and a statement was made saying, "It is believed that our two citizens lost their lives due to contact with water caused by this insulation fault."

Our wish is for the causes of the incident to be determined as soon as possible and for the work to prevent its recurrence to be implemented rapidly. We once again wish God's mercy upon our fellow citizens who lost their lives, and offer our patience and condolences to their families and loved ones.