2 workers killed in landslide at dam construction site in western Turkey

Eyüp Çatalbaş, 30, and Veli Gök died in hospital in Edirne province late May 23 after they were removed from the debris. Two other workers, İlker Karagedik and Mehmet Taneli, are still in hospital after they were rescued a day earlier from the landslide at the Hamzadere Dam construction site in the İpsala district of Edirne, close to Turkey’s border with Greece.

The landslide occurred while workers were pouring concrete, Anadolu Agency reported. Its cause is under investigation.

Two suspects, the İsmail Çelik Construction Company’s site chief and the owner of sub-contracting firm Or-Ned, were sent to court with an arrest warrant. The court released the two suspects on probation. The investigation opened into the accident is still ongoing. 

Despite efforts to improve workplace safety in the country, a monitoring group says close to 1,900 people died in work-related accidents in Turkey last year, mostly at construction sites.