FIVE PEOPLE KILLED IN COLLAPSED BUILDING

ISTANBUL, OCTOBER 9 /SRNA/ - Five people were killed when a seven-story residential building collapsed in Istanbul’s Maltepe district, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said after the search and rescue operation was completed.

Four people died at the scene, while one died in hospital, Çiftçi announced on the social media platform X.

A total of 14 people were pulled from the rubble, the DPA news agency reported.

The building collapsed in the early hours of yesterday on the Asian side of the city.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said that a shop on the ground floor and four apartments on the two floors above it had collapsed, adding that 14 people were registered at the address.

The upper floors remained largely intact, and residents were evacuated.

Maltepe Mayor Esin Köymen said the building had more floors than permitted. No official explanation for the collapse has been released.