4-story building collapses in Bahçelievler; 3 floors revealed to be illegal

A 4-story building located on Yadigar Street in the Zafer neighborhood of Istanbul's Bahçelievler district has collapsed for reasons yet unknown.

Upon notification, numerous police, fire, AFAD, and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. AFAD teams are continuing search operations in the building's rubble.

NO DEATHS OR INJURIES

The Istanbul Governor's Office, in a statement, noted that the building was constructed in 1980 and stated the following:

“Examinations conducted by teams at the scene have determined that there are no deaths, injuries, or individuals trapped under the rubble. Buildings surrounding the collapsed structure have been evacuated as a precaution, and necessary security measures have been taken at the scene.”

3 FLOORS WERE ILLEGAL

It has been revealed that 3 floors of the building that collapsed in Bahçelievler were illegal.

It was discovered that while the collapsed building was officially recorded as 4 stories, 3 illegal floors were added in 1994. The state of the building before the collapse was captured in a photograph.

'CRACKING' SOUNDS HEARD FROM THE BUILDING

CNN TÜRK Istanbul News Manager Nihat Uludağ spoke with neighborhood residents at the scene.

A resident of the building who described the incident to Uludağ said that the building was evacuated around 04:30 after they heard cracking sounds during the night.

BAHÇELİEVLER MAYOR BAHADIR: 3 FLOORS OF THE COLLAPSED BUILDING WERE ILLEGAL

Bahçelievler Mayor Hakan Bahadır said, "3 floors of the collapsed building were built illegally in '94. They acted very quickly and evacuated the building quickly. Our only wish is that nothing happened to our citizens. It has been clarified that there is no one in the rubble. We have evacuated our collapsed building and 3 surrounding buildings; we will host those citizens. There are 9 apartments in the building."

CITIZENS DESCRIBE: OUR BUILDINGS SHAKE EVEN WHEN A TRUCK PASSES

Citizens living in the vicinity described the terror they experienced. Ayhan Taşkın, who stated that his own home was damaged due to the collapse, said, "I live in the building right next door. There is also major damage to our building. The bedroom is completely gone. We were sleeping at that moment. I heard a noise and got up. As the wall went, I barely saved the children. We were very scared. I broke the door and got the children out of the bedroom."

News Source: AA