Elevator accidents continue to persist in Turkish state-run dorms
In the latest in a string of elevator accidents in state-run dormitories, the elevator fell three floors in İzmir, and two students were trapped in an elevator in Şanlıurfa.
Duvar English
This weekend saw at least two elevator accidents in state-run university dormitories in Turkey as negligence continued despite the fatal incident in October.t
In the western İzmir province’s Buca district, an elevator fell three floors with students inside in a Student Loans and Dormitories Institution (KYK) on Dec. 16.
The Movement of the Unsheltered (“Barınamıyoruz”) said the students were trapped inside the elevator for 45 minutes and the dormitory management did not allow the fire department to be called.
Accordingly, one of the students fainted inside the elevator.
In another incident in the southeastern Şanlıurfa province, two students were again trapped inside an elevator.
One of the students filmed the moments and stated that they were stuck in the elevator for the second time. “Do we have to experience this at every KYK dormitory?,” the student said.
On Oct. 26, Zeren Ertaş, a university student, died as an elevator fell in a state-run KYK dormitory in the western province of Aydın, who got stuck while trying to get out of the falling elevator. Students staying in that dormitory had protested the negligence of the management, saying they warned them several times regarding the elevator but it was not fixed.
The incident that killed Ertaş caused a public outrage and nation-wide protests, especially among university students, amid poor living conditions in the dormitories.
Students staying at KYK dormitories are saying they experience similar incidents due to negligence all the time.