Three workers lost their lives in an accident on a government construction site in southeastern Urfa province on Friday, while a fourth worker was rescued, the TR724 news website reported.
Four men working on a sewer construction project were trapped under tons of soil when a collapse occurred during excavation with a backhoe. Rescue teams were quickly dispatched to the scene, recovering the bodies of the three workers, while the fourth worker was rescued and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital.
The project was being carried out by the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), part of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
The deceased workers were commemorated by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG) on social media.
“Halil Kartal, Abdulkadir Altınsöz, Engin Çelik… All workers for the municipal sanitation office. They died trapped under soil while working on a TOKI project.”
People have been suffering from lax work safety standards for decades in Turkey, where workplace accidents are nearly a daily occurrence. In the worst work-related accident in the country’s history, 301 miners lost their lives in an explosion in Manisa’s Soma district in May 2014.
According to İSİG, more than 30,000 work-related accidents have taken place since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002.
A yearly report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on labor rights reveals that Turkey is one of the 10 worst countries in the world for working people with nearly 2,000 workers dying in occupational accidents last year.
