A Turkish court has ruled for the arrest of 14 people as part of an investigation into the death of two people due to electrocution on a street during heavy rain in the western province of İzmir last week, Turkey’s justice minister announced.
Twenty-three-year-old Özge Ceren Deniz was electrocuted when she stepped into a large puddle in a well-used street in Konak on July 12. A passerby, 44-year-old İnanç Öktemay, was also electrocuted while trying to help Deniz. Both died at the hospital, and an investigation was launched into the incident by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Their tragic death were caught by a security camera in the area. The wide circulation of the video on social media has caused public anger and calls for those responsible for the incident to give an accounting in court for their alleged negligence.
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced on X on Friday that among the 27 people, all electricity and water utility employees, detained as part of the investigation so far, seven have been put under house arrest and six have been released from detention with a travel ban.
#İzmir'in Konak ilçesinde sağanak yağıştan korunmaya çalışırken elektrik akımına kapılan 2 kişinin hayatını kaybetmesiyle ilgili İzmir Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı tarafından başlatılan adli soruşturma kapsamında;
▪️ Gözaltına alınan 27 şüpheli adliyeye sevk edilmiş,
▪️ 14 şüpheli…— Yılmaz TUNÇ (@yilmaztunc) July 18, 2024
The detainees include employees of the municipality’s İzmir Water and Sewerage Administration (IZSU) was well as the GDZ Electricity Distribution Company who, according to a preliminary expert report, have responsibility for the incident.
Despite public outrage, no public official or any executive from the GDZ Electricity have assumed responsibility for the tragedy and resigned.
However, the municipality, run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and GDZ Electricity have blamed each other for the incident.
While the company blamed the municipality for the construction of storm water gratings without approval and damaging the network, the municipality claimed that the company had carried out maintenance and repair work on the power lines alongside the storm water gratings.
The prosecutor’s office also issued detention warrants for five other people as part of the investigation which aims to reveal the exact circumstances and responsibilities leading to the fatal incident, and whether there was evidence of negligence.
Preliminary findings from a technical committee formed by the İzmir branch of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO) found an insulation fault in the cables from the transformer centers to the distribution panels on the street where the incident occurred.
Witnesses who testified to prosecutors said there has been electric leakage in the same place for five or six months and that locals called GDZ Electricity dozens of times about the problem, saying the problem was not fixed although employees from the company came to the area to examine and fix the problem.
The tragic incident also triggered debates about the privatization of electricity distribution in the country, where the assets and obligations of the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company (TEDAŞ), a state-owned enterprise, were transferred to private companies between 2004 and 2013, during the rule of the current Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. Critics link the privatization of the electricity distribution to poor oversight and maintenance.