The contractor of a collapsed building the southern province of Adana, which killed 40 residents during the 2023 earthquakes, has been detained in Thailand.
Contractor Abdullah Aybaba faces up to 22 years in prison on charges of “causing the death and injury of multiple people through conscious negligence,” due to the collapse of the Sami Bey residential building.
Following the earthquakes that killed 53,000 people in the country’s south on Feb. 6, 2023, hundreds of contractors alleged to have been negligent in the construction and collapse of buildings were prosecuted.
Some of the suspects, however, fled abroad in an apparent attempt to evade justice and avoid legal consequences.
Aybaba left Türkiye via Istanbul Airport on Feb. 7, 2023 — one day after the earthquake — without any subsequent record of entry back into the country.
Aybaba, who was subject to an international arrest warrant, was detained by Thai police during an operation in Pattaya.
According to information from the Interior Ministry sources, Aybaba’s detention has been confirmed, and extradition procedures have officially been launched.
