At least 182 workers killed on the job in February, including over 90 in earthquakes
The İskenderun State Hospital collapsed in the quakes. (Photo: AA)
At least 182 workers were killed in occupational homicides in February, according to the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG).
Fifty-three percent of the killings were caused by the massive earthquakes on February 6, said the report.
"The deaths of all workers who were at their workplaces or in the region as per orders from their bosses are within the scope of occupational homicides," the group explained, pointing out that buildings hospitals, hotels, and several other businesses collapsed in the quakes.
Adıyaman, Hatay and Maraş, three heavily-hit provinces by the quakes, were the provinces with the highest number of killings. Sixty-three, 21 and 14 workers were killed in the two cities, respectively.
Sectors with the highest number of killings were accommodation (44), chemistry (32), construction/road (22) and healthcare (20).
Twenty-one of the killed workers were women and 161 were men. Four workers were refugees.
In January, 119 workers were killed on the job, according to the İSİG.
The earthquakesOn February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later. The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people were killed. The official death toll from the quakes stands at over 45,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures. Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes. |
(VK)