A ceiling in a makeshift hospital constructed on the site of Istanbul’s now-closed Atatürk International Airport collapsed Sunday (August 4), resulting in the death of a prematurely born infant housed in the unit. The Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital opened in 2020 in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, in an opening ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Sunday’s ceiling collapse was reportedly caused by a hot water leak in the plumbing passing through a suspended ceiling.
An incubator housing prematurely born babies, some weighing as little as 800 grams, was evacuated from the damaged area following the ceiling collapse. One of the babies housed in the unit died about 30 minutes following the incident.
The hospital, located in Istanbul’s Yeşilköy district, was opened in a ceremony in 2020 by President Erdoğan and then-Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
Trade union criticizes negligence, lack of safety measures
Following the incident, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services (SES) issued a statement condemning the incident, saying that the newborns had been left without supplemental oxygen, and that hospital employees had been injured during the evacuation process. The incubator housing the babies was also alleged to have been malfunctioning, leading to some newborns suffering from hypothermia.
A statement from SES criticized the lack of safety measures leading to the incident, saying:
“This was neither an accident nor inevitable. What happened was homicide. This event resulted from the lack of necessary safety measures and lack of safety oversight. This has revealed the incompetence and negligence of administration officials.”
