Turkish premier accuses builders of neglect after quake

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused Turkey's construction industry of criminal neglect, saying shoddy work had contributed to the collapse of buildings when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit south-eastern Turkey at the weekend, dpa reported.

The official death toll now stands at 461 although it is expected to climb. Rescuers are continuing to look for survivors.

Erdogan said the failure of local councils, building contractors and inspectors to check the use of poor quality concrete in buildings which simply crumbled during the earthquake amounted to criminal neglect.

"The painful price was paid by the people inside," Erdogan said. Negligence on the part of local councils, building contractors and inspectors should be seen as a crime.

The premier conceded that state aid was insufficient in the hours immediately after the quake.

"We were not successful in the first 24 hours. We admit that," Erdogan said, adding that aid operations were now running smoothly.

He promised that Van, the capital of the province of the same name where the quake was centred, would be rebuilt "in a short space of time." Nearly 2,300 buildings in the province were destroyed.

The south-east province of Van borders Iran, and the population is mainly made up of Turkey's Kurdish minority.


/Trend/