Turkey: Debris from collapsed building cleared after rescues

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Workers used excavators to begin clearing debris from the site in eastern Turkey where a two-story building collapsed, injuring 13 people, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday.

The building, which housed a coffee house and other shops, collapsed in the city of Malatya on Tuesday. Turkey’s emergency agencies dispatched over 260 personnel to the site.

The 13 people trapped inside all were rescued. Two were in intensive care.

The excavation crews were called in after emergency service agencies determined late Tuesday that no one remained inside the collapsed building, Anadolu said.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation. On Wednesday, authorities arrested a shop owner and two employees who are suspected of having conducted unauthorized renovation work which may have caused the building to crumble, the private DHA news agency reported.