Negligence claims rise in dam accident

ADANA - Hürriyet Daily News

Families of the seven missing workers still wait in the site of the incident. AA photo

As rescue teams recovered the dead body of one of the eight workers who went missing in floods caused by an accident at a dam in the southern province of Adana, a non-governmental organization has claimed there was negligence in the case.

“[The decision] to start collecting water in the body before the construction of the dam was completed [...] has invited disaster. [...] Negligence over the workers’ well-being and job security has led to loss of life and material damages,” said Abdullah Bakır, the Adana branch head of the Chamber of Civil Engineers (İMO) while speaking yesterday at a press meeting of the Turkish Union of Engineers’ and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB).

Hüseyin Atıcı, the branch head of the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, also said concrete lids had to be built as an extra safety measure in addition to the 126-ton mechanical shutter, according to the Doğan news agency.

“The state is a whole, even if there are people who might have had negligence, flaws, intentional [behavior], shortcomings or errors. The judiciary is going to bring that part to light,” Kozan District Mayor İzzettin Sevgili said, reported the Anatolia news agency.

Eight workers went missing Feb. 24 when they were swept away by floods caused by a rupture in a dam under construction over Göksu River in Adana’s Kozan district after a dam shutter burst. Search and rescue teams also recovered the bodies of two other workers, Eyüp Altuntaş and Cumali Değirmenci, while they were searching for the missing workers early Feb. 25.