Two people trapped after apartment building collapses in central Turkey

Rescuers were battling to reach two people trapped under a collapsed apartment building in central Turkey on Saturday, officials said, with three others already rescued.

No deaths were reported.

The collapse comes amid renewed focus on building safety following the deaths of 78 people in a fire on Tuesday that ripped through a 12-storey hotel at a ski resort in north-western Turkey.

Investigators are examining whether proper fire prevention measures were in place.

Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Saturday that 79 people were registered as living in the four-storey apartment block in the city of Konya, about 160 miles south of the capital, Ankara.

Those remaining under the debris were Syrian nationals, Mr Yerlikaya said, adding that the cause of the building collapse was not immediately known.

“If there is a fault, negligence or anything else, we will learn it together,” he told journalists.

TV images showed emergency workers sifting through a large pile of rubble on Saturday morning following the building’s collapse on Friday evening.

State-run Anadolu Agency reported that four people were detained as part of the investigation.

The second anniversary of an earthquake that hit southern Turkey and north Syria, killing more than 59,000 people, is just two weeks away. The high death toll at the time was due in part to building safety regulations being ignored.

In 2004, a 12-storey apartment building collapsed in Konya, claiming the lives of 92 people and injuring 30 others.

Structural flaws and negligence were blamed for the collapse.