Turkish security teams arrest 102 suspects for looting quake-hit properties: Sources

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish security forces have arrested at least 102 suspects for allegedly looting damaged buildings after powerful earthquakes shook the region last week, sources said Tuesday.

According to sources who spoke to Anadolu on the condition of anonymity, the chief public prosecutor's office launched an investigation over incidents of "robbery, looting, aggravated fraud."

The suspects have been held over 248 separate incidents across 11 provinces, and 23 others were sentenced to judicial control injunctions, sources said.

The chief public prosecutor's office also issued an arrest warrant for 23 suspects as seven of them are currently detained.

Nearly 32,000 people were killed and over 80,000 others wounded after the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes struck southern Türkiye within the space of less than 10 hours on Feb. 6, affecting around 13 million people, according to the latest official figures.

The earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras, also hit nine other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors.

In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,500, with more than 5,200 people injured.

* Writing by Merve Aydogan