Rescue efforts continue after seven-storey building collapse kills two in Türkiye

Two people were killed and three others injured when a seven-storey building collapsed in the northwestern Turkish city of Gebze on Wednesday, local officials said. All five victims belonged to the same family.

Gebze Governor İlhami Aktaş confirmed that rescue teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) were working at the site, with operations continuing late into the evening.

According to the state-run TRT network, the victims included a 43-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman, and their three children. The body of 12-year-old Muhammed Emir Bilir was recovered from the rubble, while the identity of the second fatality has not yet been confirmed.

The cause of the collapse remains under investigation, though Gebze Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz suggested that nearby metro construction could have been a contributing factor.

The incident comes just days after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck western Türkiye on Monday, damaging several buildings in Balıkesir province. Officials said the structures that collapsed were already uninhabited due to earlier quake damage, and no fatalities were reported.

Governor İsmail Ustaoğlu said 22 people were injured in panic-related incidents during the tremor, which was felt in Istanbul, Bursa, Manisa, and Izmir.

Seismologists and engineers have repeatedly urged Turkish authorities to strengthen enforcement of modern construction standards, warning that weak building practices continue to pose serious risks in the earthquake-prone country.

In a similar incident in January, two people died in Konya when a four-storey building collapsed, with several shopkeepers later put on trial for allegedly dismantling its structural supports.

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