Turkey cracks down on building contractors as quake death toll reaches grim milestone

Crackdown on contractor 

Amid growing public anger, authorities in Turkey are investigating 163 people in connection with building collapses. Of those under investigation,eight have been arrested and 48 are in police custody, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu. 

 Eight were arrested pending trial, whose responsibilities were determined by

 public prosecutors, Anadolu reported. Authorities didn’t provide further details 

of what they’re being investigated for.

During a visit to Diyarbakir earlier on Monday, Turkey’s justice minister Bekir 

Bozdag said the public prosecutor’s offices in all earthquake-affected areas 

were conducting the judicial investigations.

Bozdag explained that “some of the buildings are 30 years old, some are older,

 some are 20, and some were built more recently, so our municipalities have this

 information.” He added: “Audits are subject to the evaluation of this information, 

and our public prosecutors carry out investigations to determine who is involved in these constructions.”  

According to Anadolu, prosecutors in the city of Malatya issued arrest warrants for 

31 people on Monday over ties to collapsed buildings.

Nazmi Tosun, a construction supervisor and technical representative of Emre Apartment,

 which was destroyed in Gaziantep province, was arrested in Istanbul early on Monday,

 Anadolu reported, citing the security forces.

buildings in the city of Adiyaman were arrested Sunday at Istanbul airport while attempting to leave the country. Yavuz Karakus, and his wife, Sevilay, who have

built several buildings in Adiyaman, were taken into custody, with Anadolu reporting that the couple had $16,000 and an additional 20,000 Turkish lira (approximately $1,061)

 on them at the time. Karakus told reporters: “My conscience is clear. I built 44 houses. Four of them fell. I did everything according to codes.” 

Several contractors believed by officials to be responsible for several destroyed