Three killed, 10 wounded as tent roof collapses in mosque in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

AA photo

Three people were killed and more than 10 were wounded on Jan. 10 after the roof of a tent collapsed on to a mass attending a funeral ceremony at a mosque in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district. 

A group of people were in a funeral prayer in the quad of the 5 Kısım Mosque in the Ataköy neighborhood when the tent’s roof collapsed after being pressured by thick snow and striking storm. 

The wounded were immediately taken to nearby hospitals while firefighters and rescue teams rushed to the scene to rescue those trapped under the roof.

A witness told Doğan News Agency that they had been warned of a possible collapse. He said the roof collapsed in an instant and created panic among the people. 

Another witness said he survived the collapse within seconds after stepping out of the area, adding that the collapse created a huge noise. 

Bülent Kerimoğlu, the mayor of Bakırköy, has also said municipality teams had arrived at the mosque earlier during the day and warned of a potential collapse after observing that the roof of the tent was overfilled with snow.    

Over the past four days, Istanbul was on hold amid heavy snowfall in what Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş described as the heaviest since 2009.