Ankara: At least 48 people were arrested in Turkey on suspicion of looting in eight provinces on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
One of them was arrested in the southern province of Hatay in possession of large sums of money, mobile phones, computers and weapons, in addition to jewelry and bank cards.
According to a decree published in the official gazette on Saturday prosecutors can detain individuals accused of looting for seven days instead of four, within the framework of the state of emergency declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the face of the disaster.
“We have declared a state of emergency,” Erdogan said during his visit to quake-hit Diyarbakir.
He added, “This means that as of now, those involved in acts of looting or kidnapping must know that the firm hand of the state will reach them.”
At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, followed by another with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks.
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria caused severe damage to thousands of buildings, including schools, health care facilities and other public infrastructure such as roads, airports, ports, oil stations, power lines, water supply and sanitation, and many aftershocks were recorded.
