A court in Türkiye has sentenced the owner and engineer of a hotel that collapsed in an earthquake in 2023, killing 72 people, to prison.
The official Anatolia News Agency reported that the owner of the Isaias Grand Hotel, Ahmed Bozkurt, and the architect Erdem Yilmaz were each sentenced to 18 years and five months in prison. She added that Bozkurt's son, Mehmet Fatih, was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison.
The hotel, located in the southeastern city of Adiyaman, was hosting a school volleyball team from Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus and a group of tour guides when the earthquake struck last February.
Anadolu said the three men were convicted of “causing the death or injury of more than one person through willful negligence.”
Agence France-Presse quoted Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Unal Ostell as saying that the sentences were too lenient and that the authorities would appeal.
“Hotel owners did not receive the punishment we expected,” Ostell said. “But despite this, everyone was judged, from those responsible for building the hotel to the architect. This is partly what made us happy.”
More than 50,000 people died in Türkiye and Syria in the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023.
About 160,000 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, displacing 1.5 million people.
The Turkish government said a few weeks later that hundreds of people were under investigation and nearly 200 people had been arrested, including building contractors and property owners.
A group of 39 people, including boys, girls, teachers and parents from Famagusta Turkish Education College, had traveled to Adiyaman to participate in a volleyball tournament when the earthquake struck.
Four fathers were the only survivors among them. They were able to pull themselves out of the rubble, while 35 others were killed, including all children.
The volleyball group chose the seven-storey Isaias Grand Hotel, along with up to 40 tour guides who were there for training.
It was one of the most famous hotels in Adiyaman, but it collapsed in moments.
The Isaias Building has been in operation since 2001, but according to scientific analysis, gravel and sand from the local river were mixed with other building materials to form the columns that support the building.
The massive scale of building collapses in the earthquake sparked widespread criticism of the Turkish government for encouraging a building boom while failing to enforce building regulations, which had been tightened after previous disasters.
