Skip to content 
Want to read your favorite articles and stories for later reading or reference? Start your Independent Membership today.
Join today
Already a member? Log in
A seven-storey residential tower block has collapsed in Istanbul, killing one person and sparking a desperate search for remaining residents trapped under rubble.
Authorities said the bottom three floors of the building caved in around 5:40 a.m. local time in the Maltepe district on the city’s Asian side.
Emergency crews rushed to Doğu Street in the Cevizli neighborhood after receiving reports that several residents were buried under tons of concrete and twisted metal.
The upper floors of the structure remained standing, allowing firefighters to safely evacuate residents who were stranded on the upper levels.
Rescue workers with heavy machinery, search dogs, and acoustic listening devices have now established contact with several victims buried in the lower section.
The number of people believed to be trapped under the rubble remains uncertain.
So far, nine people – including two children – have been rescued, according to regional outlets.
An additional fatality was reported by the national outlet Turkey today. This claim has not yet been independently verified.
At the scene, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül confirmed that rescue teams have made contact with a six-year-old child trapped under the rubble, but are currently forced to change their approach due to the instability of the site.
“Our teams made contact with several individuals trapped under the debris shortly after they arrived,” he told reporters, adding that specialized units were working under extreme caution to prevent further collapse.
The cause of the structural failure remains under investigation.
The incident comes just months after a natural gas leak led to an explosion, bringing down two residential buildings in Istanbul’s Fatih district. The March event killed one person and injured 10 others.
According to the latest research by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, more than half of the buildings it inspected last year are classified as “high” or “very high” risk areas in the event of an earthquake.
