The body of a 12-year-old child from a family of five who was buried under the rubble of the collapsed apartment building near Istanbul was found during a rescue operation at the scene, Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Mehmet Aktaş announced, quoted by Turkish television NTV, BTA reported.
The seven-story building, located in the city of Gebze in the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli, collapsed this morning under still unclear circumstances.
The governor of Kocaeli province, Ilhami Aktaş, announced that according to the information they have, there was a family in the building at night - a mother, father and three children, who were buried under the rubble. Rescuers have currently established contact with one of the family members and are trying to reach him, Aktaş also informed.
The buried family - a 44-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman and their children aged 12, 14 and 18 - lived in a rented apartment in the building.
According to the governor of Kocaeli, nine buildings near the collapsed building were evacuated as a precaution, and a total of 375 people are currently involved in the rescue operation on site.
The collapsed building was built in 2012 and received a permit for use in 2013. According to Aktaş, the cause of the collapse is still unclear, and work is underway to determine it. Currently, all efforts are focused on reaching the buried people, he added.