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Occupational murder in construction field

Ten workers were killed at a construction site in Istanbul when an elevator carrying them suddenly plunged to the ground late on Sept. 6.

The incident occurred at the construction site of Torunlar Center, a luxurious high-rise residential building. It was the former site of Galatasaray football club’s Stadium in Şişli’s Mecidiyeköy neighborhood.

TorunCenter

TorunCenter

Tahir Kara, Hıdır Ali Genç, İsmail Sarıtaş, Bilal Bal, Cengiz Tatoğlu, Murat Usta, Menderes Meşe, Vahdet Biçer, Ferdi Kara and Cengiz Bilgi were killed in the incident.

“The work should have ended at 7 p.m. The notice was delivered to firefighting teams at 7:45 p.m.,” Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said, underlining that the accident happened after the set working period. It has been claimed that the elevator broke down again around 15 days ago and that the repair work was awating funds from the budget.

The police fired water cannon and tear gas at protesters in Istanbul, where hundreds rallied to vent anger over the deaths of 10 construction workers. Unions have called for marches and protests to the site during the day. “This is not an accident, this is not destiny, this is murder!” was the main slogan of the rallies.

TorunCenter & Riot Police

TorunCenter & Riot Police

Torunlar GYO, the owner of the construction, put the blame for the deaths on the workers, saying workers are given workplace safety training but do not take the issue seriously. Construction was halted after killings. But workers are still inside as the site was also the dormitory of 1500 workers. Working and living conditions recalls the ones in Qatar.

It was not the first at the construction site. In April 2014, a 19-year-old man died at the same site.

In the first seven months of 2014, as many as 1,100 workers have been reported dead as a result of work-related accidents. More than 12,000 people died in work accidents since 2002, when the Justice and Development Party government rose to power.

Dormitory of workers

Dormitory of workers

Erdogan & Aziz Torun

Erdogan & Aziz Torun

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