Wall collapse kills teenager

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

The roof of the shanty house caved-in as the wall collapsed onto it in the early morning when the family was awake, reported the Anatolia news agency. Melek Çapkan, a 14-year-old girl, died while her three siblings and parents were injured. Nine-year-old Merve was unhurt. "I was getting ready for school. My mom was making breakfast and the roof suddenly collapsed over us," Merve said. Bünyamin Sürmeli, the meteorology editor of the private news channel CNNTürk said live on TV that the houses were located in an area that was not suitable for housing. "Problems occur when houses are built on stream beds," he said.

The area was one of the two areas where shanty houses had been removed, said Kağıthane Mayor Fazlı Kılıç. One of the areas was fully evacuated but the process was still ongoing in the area where the collapsed house was located, he said. "I do not think that the municipality was negligent. The evacuation of shanty houses is not easy as you understand. People pointed guns at municipality officers in the other evacuation area," Kılıç said.