A Turkish court on Friday sentenced a construction contractor to 62 life terms in prison for negligence in the construction of a building that collapsed in a devastating earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey last year.
The contractor Hasan Alpargun, who is already in prison, has been sentenced to 865 years for “causing death and injury with possible intent,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Another 34 defendants were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, said Beshir Ekinci, a lawyer for the victims’ families, the agency reports. They have been convicted of non-compliance with hazardous area construction standards.
A total of 96 people died after their apartment block, built by Alpargun, collapsed in the southeastern province of Adana in February last year.
Two consecutive earthquakes on February 6, 2023, killed more than 60.000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
Some contractors have since been detained, but opposition parties are calling out the government for failing to hold the government officials involved accountable.
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