11 workers died in a so-called “labour accident”
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In Esenyurt district of Istanbul, 11 workers died in a fire starting at the three tents which they use for accommodation in the construction area of Marmara Park AVM, the shopping centre that is claimed to become the largest of Europe, on March 12.
The labour organisations inform that the workers were outsourced, that they have raised their demands for a safe accommodation many times before, that a similar fire had started in the same area once more in January and no safety measures were taken despite that. The investors of the shopping centre are the German enterprises ECE Company and Deutsche Bank. The construction work is carried out by the main company Kaya Construction and the name of the outsourcing company is Kaldem.{divide}
The Doctors' Chamber of Istanbul made some research at the place and said that even if there had been no fire the workers would die because of pneumonia at those tents.
The incident caused great reaction and many different organisations condemned it. The Council for Workers' Health and Workers' Safety in Istanbul made a statement informing about the so-called "labour accident". They reminded that 5 young workers had lost their lives in January in Fatih district for the same reason and 2 workers in Sultangazi district in February and said that the accommodation problem is a part of the working conditions. They stressed that the construction sector is growing on the base of the blood of the workers.
HDK condemned the massacre through an action at the Esenyurt Square shouting slogans such as "No accident but murder". Sirri Sureyya Onder, MP of BDP for Istanbul, made a press meeting in the National Congress to condemn the incident. Moreover, many workers' unions as well as some professionals' chambers made protest actions.