Minister of Transport: 25 of 55 Workers Died by 'Natural Causes' in 3rd Airport

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Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Cahit Turhan has announced that 55 workers died in the construction of the 3rd Airport in İstanbul, in a written response to the parliamentary question submitted by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu.

Tanrıkulu directed the questions of how many workers died in the airport and what were the causes of the deaths at Minister Turhan, who has said in his response that 30 people lost their lives because of workplace accidents and 25 people died by natural causes.

It is underpinned in the response that the deaths by natural causes were not caused by the workplace or the employer. Death causes of the 30 workers were separately announced.

Causes of deaths according to Minister

In the response of the Ministry, death causes of the 30 workers were announced as: Suffocation and being hit by vehicle (7 people), being crushed (2 people), being crushed or squeezed (7 people), cardiac arrest and general body trauma (9 people), cerebral hemorrhage (2 people), respiratory tract blockage (3 people).

The Presidency Communications Center (CİMER) announced in December 2018 that 52 workplace accidents involving deaths took place in the construction of the 3rd Airport between 2013 and 2018.

İSİG: 38 workers killed

According to data shared by the Laborers' Health and Occupational Safety (İSİG) Assembly, 38 workers died in occupational homicides in the construction of the 3rd İstanbul Airport.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Cahit Turhan announced in November 2018 that 30 workers died in the airport.

Definitions of workplace accident

In the Ministry's response, the definitions that were made for workplace accidents, such as "sabotage", "coming too close to the lake despite prohibition", "putting his body between the dumper and the chassis while the dumper was moving" also drew attention. (OI/HK/VK)