For the first time in Turkey, public officials will be investigated for causing earthquake damage, reports the Turkish private television NTV, quoted by BTA.
The case concerns the destruction caused by the catastrophic earthquakes on February 6, in which 69 people died and 16 were injured as a result of a block collapse in the town of Dulkadiroglu, Kahramanmaras County.
The three civil servants, who will be investigated, are suspected of causing death and bodily harm through carelessness and improper performance of official duties. They are employees of the municipality of Dulkadiroglu - the then deputy director for territorial planning and urbanization Arzu Yozaidan, the electrical engineer Joner Gürbüzel and the architect Serap Biniji, who were found guilty in the expert report.
The prosecutor requested permission from the Dulkadiroglu district administration for the three to be investigated, which was granted on the grounds that the suspects had acted in violation of the building supervision regulation.
Following the clearance, an investigation was launched against Yozaidan, Gurbusel and Biniji, who are still municipal employees, on charges of causing death and bodily harm by negligence and abuse of office. The district of Kahramanmaras was the epicenter of the devastating earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale on February 6, 2012, in which more than 53 thousand people died.