UPDATE 5 - Turkey: Istanbul building collapse leaves 2 dead

ADDS REMARKS BY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER BINALI YILDIRIM IN GRAFS 4-6

By Cemal Coskun

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least two people were killed when a building on Istanbul’s Asian side collapsed, authorities said Wednesday.

The Istanbul governorship said six of the injured were rescued.

A seven-story building in the Kartal district collapsed earlier Wednesday.

Turkish parliament speaker Binali Yildirim, who went to the site, told reporters rescue teams have contacted four victims in the rubble.

“Our friends are making an extraordinary effort to get them out safely,” he added.

He said as a precaution, people living in the next building were evacuated due to possible damage caused by the collapse.

Zeki Dag, the local administrator of the neighborhood, said 15 residents are thought to be under the rubble. A textile shop under the building was empty at the time of the collapse.

Dag said the building had 14 apartments with 27-30 residents inside when it collapsed.

A team of 86 rescue workers and 26 fire trucks are at the site.

Prosecutors have begun an investigation into the incident and an Istanbul court issued a broadcasting ban, the country’s top broadcasting authority, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), said in a statement.