One worker killed, another wounded in Istanbul workplace accidents

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A landslide at a waste-water facility construction site in the Ümraniye district killed one worker on Sept. 29. AA Photo

One worker has been killed in a landslide at a waste-water facility construction site in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district, while another has been wounded in an accident at the construction site of a new football stadium in the city.

Kadir Daştan was buried in the wreckage of a landslide in the area where he had been working on waste-water pipes, on a street in the Asian side's Ümraniye district. The 33-year-old man was pronounced dead when rescue workers recovered his body from three meters underground after trying to reach him for one hour. The digger’s operator and the chief of the work site were later taken for questioning at the police station.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and the Istanbul Water and Sewerage administration has not revealed any details about the incident so far.   

Another worker at the site, Celil Dağlar told media outlets that he survived because he noticed the impending incident just in time.

Meanwhile, one worker has been seriously wounded at the construction site of Beşiktaş football club’s new stadium, according to daily Radikal.

Ali Babuca broke bones in his waist after falling from 10 meters into the site’s elevator shaft, according to a medical report. He was discharged from the hospital 11 days after an operation and received a medical report stating that he cannot work until Dec. 19. Beşiktaş, however, has claimed that Babuca was only lightly injured and he returned to work on foot after three days of treatment.

Earlier this month in Istanbul, 10 workers died in a construction site accident after an elevator plunged from 32 stories to the ground.