Statements of suspects in the Masquerade Club fire that killed 29 people revealed

Müslim SARIYAR/12punto.com.tr

In the fire that broke out at the 'Masquerade' nightclub in Gayrettepe, Istanbul, on April 2, 2024, at approximately 12:35 PM, 29 people lost their lives. The 11 suspects detained as part of the investigation were referred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today. Details of the suspects' statements at the police station have emerged. Here are those statements...

Masquerade nightclub owner Şahzade Ş. stated in his testimony that he was a tenant at the club and that the property owner was Tanju C., saying the following:

"Before Ramadan, I first met with Mr. Ersin, the owner of Pully Architecture. They came to the workplace and drew the project. We only agreed on the project with them. I wanted to give the rest of my work to Kahraman E., who does iron and booth work for me, and to Ramazan A. for decorative and carpentry work, as I had worked with them before. I met with them at the workplace. Later, I know they met with İbrahim B. and Mehmet M. I agreed with Kahraman the master for the iron and booth work for approximately 12,000,000 TL, and with Ramazan the master for the decoration and carpentry work for approximately 6,000,000 TL. I did not make a one-on-one agreement with Çağatay. This friend worked with Kahraman. I don't know if they are partners. We removed the materials inside the business that we used from the workplace. The carpenter and the blacksmith were going to do the other work. After we finished our own work for the implementation of the project, we handed over the workplace to Mr. Kahraman. Mr. Kahraman and Mr. Çağatay worked together for about 15 days. As they progressed with the work, the carpenters started working halfway through."

IT WAS THE LAST DAY FOR THE STAGE CREW

"As far as I know, they worked together for 4-5 days. Mr. Kahraman finished the carcasses of the lower floor. He was doing the booth section. For the last 3 days, the stage crew also started working. I don't think Mr. Kahraman had any business with an oxygen tank. They worked more with electrode welding machines and angle grinders. The carpenters didn't have any dangerous materials either. They generally had wood cutting and shaping tools. However, since the stage crew's work was a bit different, they might have brought the oxygen tank to the workplace. I don't know the names and contact information of the stage crew. The friends who were building the stage took the job after saying they wanted to rebuild the stage and would be 50% sponsors. The day of the incident, 02/04/2024, was the last day for the stage crew. Their work was going to be finished."

TESTIMONY OF THE CLUB PARTNER

Masquerade club partner Fatma D. explained the following in her statement to the police station:

"I am a paid teacher. I do not hold any position at the Masquerade workplace. Because my brother-in-law Şahzade had debts, I took over a share of the business on paper about 3 years ago, the percentage of which I do not know. I know that the other partner is the person I know as Mehmet. I know that officially, the person named Şahzade does not have a partnership. Even though he does not have a partnership, the business responsibilities lie with the individuals named Şahzade and Mehmet. After I became a partner on paper, I never went to the workplace. My brother-in-law Şahzade was going to take back the share I held after he paid off his debts."

“BROTHER, THERE IS A FIRE”

One of the business partners, Mehmet Menduh C., also explained the following at the police station:

"I have been working in the purchasing and pre-accounting department at the Masquerade workplace for about 2 years. Officially, I appear as a fifty percent partner of the workplace in question. The other shareholder is Fatma D., who is the sister-in-law of the person named Şehzade Ş. The person named Şehzade Ş. went bankrupt in 2018 and closed his company. Due to the debts of this company, he asked me to take fifty percent of the Masquerade workplace, and since I have known him for a long time, I accepted this offer. Therefore, the partners of the workplace in question are the individuals named Şahzade Ş. and Fatma D. On 02.04.2024, around 13:00, while I was working in the accounting section at the Masquerade workplace, my office door was knocked on, as I recall, by the person named Kahraman E. Kahraman said to me, 'Brother, there is a fire, I think.' I immediately went out of my office. I saw Ercan E., who works as a carpenter at the back inner entrance of the Masquerade workplace, intervening in the fire with a fire extinguisher in his hand. Then I went back into the office. At this moment, the electricity went out. The environment was filled with dense smoke. There is a door opening from the office next to the accounting department to the store next door, and the key to this door is in my room. I took this key from where it was located using my mobile phone. As I was about to open the door, Salim A. and Kahraman E. came to me. We opened the door and threw ourselves outside. I called Atanur A. with my mobile phone to ask about his situation and gave him directions. When he didn't come out, I called the person named Şivan D., but I couldn't reach him. Because there was dense smoke and fire inside the workplace, we could not enter and intervene. I don't know who called the 112 teams. While I was at the workplace, I had no idea who was inside. A short while later, fire, ambulance, and police teams arrived and made the necessary interventions."

CLUB EMPLOYEE EXPLAINED

Masquerade club employee Arda Arman P. also had his statement taken as a suspect. In his statement, he said:

"Yesterday, that is, on 02/04/24, I was at my home. Around 13:00, a friend named Engin, whose surname I don't know, who works as a watchman at the workplace, called me from the number I use and said, 'Brother, there is a very big fire at the workplace.' I got worried and came to the workplace alone. I saw that the area around the workplace was cordoned off by the police, that there were ambulances, fire trucks there, and that most of our staff were there. The fire had been extinguished. Smoke was still coming out. At one point, I went to the firefighters and said to them, 'I know the inside, I want to help you, let me go inside too.' I made them accept this offer with difficulty. I put on a firefighter's oxygen mask and went inside with them. As soon as I entered, they took me out again. They said my air tank was empty. I went back inside with a new tank.

There was no fire inside, but there was no visibility at all. After moving forward a little, a burning piece of wood fell on my right arm from the upper floor. They took me out again for my own safety. After a while, they brought out many people from inside. These people's faces were pitch black, but they were not burned, it was soot. They took them to the hospital with ambulances. They also brought out bodies in bags. Then the police brought me here to give a statement."

THE RESPONSIBLE MANAGER EXPLAINED

İsmet Ş., who worked as the responsible manager at the club, explained what happened that day to the police as follows:

"I have been working at the nightclub located at Gayrettepe Neighborhood, Yıldız Posta Street, No:38/20 Beşiktaş / Istanbul for approximately 7 years. I had been working as the responsible manager for about 6-7 months, but my responsibility as manager ended during this period, and I continued to work as an insured worker. Due to Ramadan, the aforementioned workplace was closed to customer activity, and with the decision of the workplace owners, renovations were started at the workplace during the month of Ramadan, that is, starting from March 11, 2024. Because there were no customers due to the work I did and the workplace was under renovation, I did not go to the workplace during this process, and I had no obligation as a worker regarding the renovation being done. On 02.04.2024, around 13:00, I received information that a fire had broken out at the workplace and I went to the workplace from my residence in Kağıthane district. When I got there, I saw many fire trucks, ambulances, police in front of the workplace, and smoke coming out of the workplace. Since I didn't know who was at the workplace or who was working, I couldn't reach anyone. While I was waiting there at the workplace, I saw injured and dead people being brought out from inside. At that moment, the police came to me and asked if I worked at the aforementioned workplace, and when I said I was an employee, they said they would take my statement and took me to the police station with them."

WENT INTO SHOCK

Nightclub employee Salim A. was also one of the people who were at the club during the incident. He explained what happened in his statement as follows:

"I have been working as a cashier with SGK (Social Security) at the Masquerade workplace for 10 years, if I am not mistaken. The workplace is closed every year during Ramadan. It was the same this year. When Ramadan started, renovations began at the workplace. I also had surgery at Istanbul Surgery Hospital on 22/03/2024. They gave me one week of rest. I came to my workplace on April 1st because of my work related to the cash register program. The next day, that is, on 02/04/2024, around 11:30, I came to the workplace with my friend Engin E., who is a waiter. We were having breakfast in the accounting office on the upper floor of the workplace with my friends Mehmet Menduh C. and Kadir Y. Our room door started to be knocked on very violently. I opened the door immediately. Kahraman E., who was doing the renovation work of the workplace, was at the door, and he started shouting, 'There is a fire, fire.' He suddenly went into shock. On one hand, I looked at the lower floor. I saw that the masters doing the renovation work were trying to extinguish the fire that broke out with fire extinguishers in their hands. At this time, the electricity was cut off. The workplace was covered in smoke. I didn't see any flames. I took my computer and phone that were in the room. Mehmet C. helped me to get out. I went out through the store door. All of us in the room went out."

EXPLOSION SOUNDS WERE COMING FROM THE WORKPLACE

"I immediately called 112. But I couldn't speak. I heard the police on duty at the election office nearby calling 112. At this time, I heard explosion sounds from the workplace, and dense smoke and flames were coming out of the workplace door. The flames were rising up to the 4th floor of the apartment building. The police cordoned off the scene. Firefighters intervened in the fire. They extinguished the fire shortly after. They brought out bodies in bags from the workplace. I looked to identify my friends, but I couldn't recognize them because their faces were black from the smoke. The police kept us outside. A plainclothes police officer came to me. He asked if I was one of those who came out from inside. I said yes and I came here of my own free will."

EXPLAINED THE MOMENT OF THE INCIDENT

Kahraman E., the owner of the furniture company that does the renovation work of the nightclub, explained the horror experienced as follows:

"On the day of the incident, that is, 02/04/2024, I woke up around 11:30. I had stayed at the workplace at night. I spoke with Çağatay on the phone. Mr. Çağatay was at the workplace in Pendik at this time. He was preparing the necessary materials for the work. At this time, I left my room on the lower floor. I went to the upper floor. I looked into the workplace from a place like a balcony. The welding master Ahmet S. came to me with me. I told him the work he needed to do and went to my room. I opened my laptop. Suddenly, I heard those in the workplace shouting. I saw that Mr. Sinan, who was on the balcony opposite me, stood up and was shouting. I stepped out a few steps from the place where I had an exit door from the room I was in. Suddenly, I saw black smoke and flames from the lower floor of the workplace. I immediately knocked on the door of the accounting room next to me. I called those inside to come out. I shouted that there was a fire. Upon my shouting, Kadir, Salim, and Mehmet Menduh, whose surnames I do not know, went out. At this time, I saw that the Syrian national Ahmet M. was running towards the fire area with a fire extinguisher in his hand.

Then they opened the shutters in front of the door and we went out. While outside, I saw that brother Ercan E. also went out. Smoke started to come out from the exit door of the lower floor of the workplace. This was followed by flames. From the flames, the windows on the 3rd floor suddenly exploded. We wanted to help those who remained inside, but there was such dense smoke that it was impossible to even approach it. That's why we started to wait. A few minutes later, the fire department arrived. The police arrived. The police cordoned off the scene with a security tape. They also took us outside the tape. The fire department carried out extinguishing work. After about 15-20 minutes, the fire was completely extinguished. Then they started to bring out the bodies of the employees from inside the workplace with body bags. Usually, 12-13 people worked there every day. However, I saw that the workplace employees were also at the scene that day, and that the number of stage crew and woodworkers was very high. That's why I think the death toll is high."

News Source: Müslim Sarıyar