Turkish mosque collapse kills 1, injures 9

[December 17, 2011]  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- The dome of a mosque under construction collapsed on Saturday, killing one worker and injuring nine others, who were pulled from the rubble by rescuers, an official said.

The dome of the mosque being built at an industrial area in the central Turkish town of Acigol tumbled down during construction, trapping 10 workers under a pile of iron, Mayor Hasan Unver told NTV television.

Nine of the workers were rescued with injuries while the other was pulled out dead, he said.

State-run TRT television showed images of rescuers, some carrying a bright orange stretcher, scrambling to rescue one trapped worker amid a pile of rubble and iron rods.

The images were a mini-replay of a series of televised rescues in October after a pair of powerful earthquakes buried hundreds of people in eastern Turkey.

The cause of Saturday's accident was under investigation.

Tough safety codes were approved a decade ago after earthquakes in western Turkey killed 18,000 people and prompted an outcry over the poor quality of construction, but enforcement has remained lax.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged that shoddy construction contributed to the high casualty toll of October's earthquakes and said Turkey had not learned lessons from past disasters.

[Associated Press]

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