Turkey charges 25 over deadly lift plunge

Istanbul prosecutors charged more than two dozen people with manslaughter today over a lift accident last month at the building site for an elite Istanbul development in which ten workers were killed, media reported.
A total of 25 people, including employees of the construction and elevator company as well as lift repairers, are facing jail sentences of between four and 22 years, Dogan news agency said.
However prosecutors dropped charges against the executives of building owner Torunlar which has vehemently denied any negligence.
The accident happened in early September when a lift crashed to the ground from the 32nd storey of Torunlar Centre, which is being built as a luxury skyscraper in Istanbul's upscale Mecidiyekoy district.

The exact cause of the accident remains unclear, but a preliminary expert report submitted to prosecutors pointed to at least three safety violations at the construction site.
Dogan said families of eight victims withdrew their complaints after being paid by the construction company.

The government has promised a new action plan aimed at improving safety at construction sites.
Turkey has the world's third-highest rate of deadly workplace accidents, according to the International Labour Organisation.
In the past five years 1,754 construction workers have died in Turkey, figures from the Turkish statistics office show.
In May, 301 miners died in the western town of Soma in Turkey's worst-ever industrial accident. Most were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning.