The police chief in the Turkish city of Bingol was today sacked after rioting broke out in the aftermath of yesterday’s earthquake which killed more than 100 people.
The Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed reports that the police chief, Osman Nuri Ozdemir, had been suspended from duties, but defended the action of security forces.
”According to intelligence reports, there were serious activities directed at provocation,” Erdogen told a news conference in the Turkish capital. ”I call on the people of Bingol to be more calm and sensitive.”
The violence erupted after demonstrators marched on the governor’s office, demanding that more tents and food to be provided for the mainly Kurdish region. Police and troops unleashed long bursts of gunfire in the air and fought running battles with crowds
Some protesters ripped large stones from the paved streets and threw them at security forces. Two paramilitary police and three reporters were hurt in the clashes, the Anatolia news agency reported. Several demonstrators were also injured by a speeding police van which drove through the crowd.
The demonstrators accused the governor, Huseyin Avni Cos, of failing to provide them with tents, food and water. Although the Turkish Red Crescent has sent 3 700 tents and 13 000 blankets to the region, 20 000 more tents were needed. Food and drinking water is also insufficient, officials said.
Hundreds of aftershocks have hit the region since the initial 17-second quake, leaving thousands who refuse to enter their homes stranded in the streets.
Meanwhile, rescue workers in the village of Celtiksuyu kept up their search for survivors in the wreckage of the school dormitory which collapsed during yesterday’s tremor, which measured 6,4 on the Richter scale.
The 198 students in the dorm, ages 7 to 16, were asleep when it collapsed. By midday today (1000 GMT) 117 children had been rescued.
One boy was rescued this morning after spending more than 30 hours under the rubble. Rescuers applauded as Enef Gunce, apparently with only slight injuries, was carried down on a stretcher and quickly put in ambulance.
But hopes were beginning to fade as the bodies of 40 children were found. Major Oguz Tozak, in charge of a rescue team at the school, said he feared up to two-thirds of the students still trapped may be dead.
Throughout the night, rescuers Intermittently turned off generators and lights to scan the rubble with sensitive microphones to detect any sounds. Sniffer dogs climbed on the debris hunting for survivors.
”I have been sitting here since yesterday morning,” said Gazal Gunalan, whose 15-year-old son Mehmet was buried under the rubble.” At the beginning I was expecting him to come out alive … now I’m waiting for his body.”
The building’s collapse focused attention on poor construction methods that have been blamed for heavy death tolls in previous quakes in Turkey.
Nihat Ozdemir, head of the Turkish Contractors’ Union, said contractors were not being inspected carefully, while Erdogan, vowed to prosecute those responsible for shoddy construction. – Guardian Unlimited Â