Turkey earthquake: More than 600 construction contractors and property owners under investigation

More than 600 construction contractors and owners are under investigation in Turkey for buildings that collapsed in the catastrophic earthquake that claimed at least 50,000 lives.

Yesterday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that 184 suspects had already been arrested.

More than 160,000 buildings collapsed or suffered heavy damage in Turkey after the series of devastating earthquakes, with the worst reaching a magnitude of 7.8.

Some have questioned whether the impact of the natural disaster was exacerbated by the construction of unsafe properties, which experts have been warning about for years.

In the country, building codes are rarely enforced, which means that some buildings did not meet the earthquake engineering standard, causing civilians to collapse.

More than 160,000 buildings collapsed or suffered heavy damage in Turkey after the series of devastating earthquakes. Pictured: A collapsed building in Hatay

Construction experts have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of failing to enforce building regulations. A failure that has led to widespread devastation.

Among those arrested was the mayor of one of the towns affected by the earthquakes, according to Turkish media.

Nine thousand aftershocks are said to have struck Turkey since the deadly earthquake on February 6, with the death toll exceeding 50,000.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the property developer, who built the 249-apartment block in which former Chelsea star Christian Atsuin died, was arrested.

Mehmet Yasar Coskun was detained at the Istanbul airport on suspicion of the construction of the building.

He denied having fled the country and insisted he was only going to Montenegro, where he has other projects.

Coskun is said to have stated in leaked testimony that he did not know why the building had not withstood the two earthquakes that hit the region.

His lawyer suggested that the public was looking for scapegoats, as Turkish authorities issued 113 arrest warrants related to construction work across the country.

Pictured: Members of the Uzbek search and rescue team use a dog as they search for a body under the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay.

Pictured: A collapsed building after magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes in Turkoglu district of Kahramanmaras