Turkish mosque collapse kills 1, injures 9
Associated Press, Ankara | Sat, 12/17/2011 7:36 PM
The dome of a mosque under construction
collapsed on Saturday, killing one worker and injuring nine others, who were
pulled from the rubble by rescuers, an official said.
The dome of the mosque being built at an
industrial area in the central Turkish town of Acigol tumbled down during construction,
trapping 10 workers under a pile of iron, Mayor Hasan Unver told NTV
television.
Nine of the workers were rescued with
injuries while the other was pulled out dead, he said.
State-run TRT television showed images of
rescuers, some carrying a bright orange stretcher, scrambling to rescue one
trapped worker amid a pile of rubble and iron rods.
The images were a mini-replay of a series
of televised rescues in October after a pair of powerful earthquakes buried
hundreds of people in eastern Turkey.
The cause of Saturday's accident was under
investigation.
Tough safety codes were approved a decade
ago after earthquakes in western Turkey killed 18,000 people and
prompted an outcry over the poor quality of construction, but enforcement has
remained lax.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged
that shoddy construction contributed to the high casualty toll of October's
earthquakes and said Turkey
had not learned lessons from past disasters. (nvn)
