Building collapses in Maltepe: two floors were illegal, mayor says permit allowed 5
A 7-storey building collapsed in Istanbul's Maltepe district. Seven people were trapped under the rubble, six were rescued. Mayor Esin Köymen said the two upper floors of the building were illegal.
Gurban Gurbanzadeh3 min read
Around 06:00 on 8 October 2026, a collapse occurred in a 7-storey residential building in Istanbul's Maltepe district, in the Jevizli neighbourhood. Seven people were trapped under the rubble, six were rescued. According to Maltepe Mayor Esin Köymen, the two upper floors of the building were illegal.
The building contained 12 apartments; according to records, 33 people lived in it. The cause of the collapse is expected to be established after investigations are carried out.
Speaking on one of the live broadcasts, Köymen said the building was constructed in the 1980s, and the project retrieved from the archive showed the presence of two illegal floors.
"The question is how many floors the building has according to the occupancy permit. The building was constructed in the 80s, and when we retrieved its project from the archive, we saw that there are two illegal floors above the building. The occupancy permit (iskan) shows 5 floors; two floors were built illegally. We checked the documents in the municipality's archive and saw that the building was in such a situation."
Köymen also described how events unfolded. According to her, around 06:30 a report was received about the building settling and tilting. Arriving at the scene, she saw that the building had sunk into the basement and the first floor and had tilted backwards.
The mayor noted that no complaints had previously been received about this building.
"We ordered our entire archive to be opened and checked whether any applications had been submitted to us about whether the structure was at risk and whether any procedures had been carried out on this matter. No complaints reached us."
Inspections and the governor's data
Asked whether inspections had been carried out after 6 February, Köymen replied that they had been carried out on the basis of incoming applications, but that it was impossible to cover all buildings in the district.
"Of course they were carried out — based on the signals that reached us. But it is impossible to have the personnel and staff to inspect all buildings in Maltepe individually. This is work not only for the local authorities: it can be carried out by the local and central government together."
Istanbul Governor Davut Gül arrived at the scene and made a statement. He said the building was constructed in 1987.
"This building is on ground plus 6 floors. On the first floor there are shops; six floors are used as apartments. There are 12 apartments in total; according to population administration data, 33 people live in them."
According to Gül, four apartments at the level of ground plus 2 floors were damaged in the collapse. He added that according to records, 14 people are registered in these four apartments, and that as of now it has been established that two residents were in their hometowns.
Source: milliyet.com.tr
