Authorities issue 29 arrest warrants in İzmir over electrocution deaths during rainfall

Duvar English

Turkey’s Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced on July 14 that authorities have issued arrest warrants for 29 people "who were determined to be responsible" for the deaths of two individuals electrocuted during a rainfall in Aegean İzmir province.

Tunç stated that the decision was taken as part of the judicial investigation initiated by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the preliminary expert report prepared on the incident.

44-year-old İnanç Öktemay and 23-year-old Özge Ceren Deniz were electrocuted when they stepped into the water-filled street while trying to escape from the rainfall. 

The locals and shopkeepers have blamed the electricity firm and municipality for not fixing the exposed wires on the sewer on the street for years. The Chamber of Electrical Engineers also found an insulation defect in the wires where the incident took place according to their preliminary report.

Electricity distribution company, municipality blame each other

Electricity distribution company Gdz Elektrik on July 14 argued that the municipality's infrastructure organization İzmir Water and Sewerage Administration General Directorate (İZSU) constructed rainwater grids on the electricity network in the region without informing them and without approval, which damaged the network.

The company stated that they have not received any complaints via formal channels or social media in the last six months regarding the region where the incident took place. "The complaints, which are said to have been communicated for a long time in the conversations of the residents of the region, were made to other institutions that are directly responsible,” it said.

Meanwhile, it came to light that a local newspaper, Ege Telgraf, warned about the sewer and exposed wires on the street back in 2019 in a report with the title, "Does someone have to die for a solution?"

The company, on the other hand, stated that their teams responded promptly to the issue reported in the newspaper, “quickly resolving the problem.” They also asserted that the same newspaper published a follow-up article on January 21, 2019, confirming that the issue had been resolved.

In its statement, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on July 13 defended that an observer was requested from Gdz Elektrik during the construction of three rainwater gratings made by İZSU to the contractor company in January 2024 and that the construction was carried out under the supervision of the observer.

He asserted that maintenance and repair work was carried out by Gdz Elektrik on the electrical lines next to the rainwater grate. He added that the electrical lines were installed 23 centimeters below ground in violation of construction standards and that residents had reported issues in the area to Gdz Elektrik twice.

In a newly revealed CCTV footage, it can be seen that smoke coming out of the gratings at the scene of the incident on Jan. 9.

The process of privatization of electricity distribution in Turkey, which started in the 1980s, was fully completed in October 2010 under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and then-finance ministry of Mehmet Şimşek.

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