Experiences Acquired by a Building Collapse

Abstract

In this study, it has been purposed to share practice of event-scene administration, search and rescue and evacuation of injured and acquired experiences carried out throughout a building collapse. After an explosion at Diyarbakir Kurdoglu housings at 11 December 2006 about 08:20AM, five flats of an apartment that has five floors-ten flats were collapsed. Local military hospital ambulances, city ambulances, and fire-fighting vehicles arrived to event-place 10 minutes later. It has been found out that there were 13 people inside, 6 of which were children. Army rescue team arrived event-place about 01:30PM, then all non-professional persons has been sent away from region. Eight dead including five children, and five injured including one child have been taken out. Two people from close area have been also injured mildly due to the explosion. It has been found out that accident caused by boiler tank exploding. Sixth of total eight injured had only superficial wounds. Other two injured have been followed because of head trauma at first one and hepatic contusion and rib fracture at the other one. No complication observed after follow-up. Building collapses can create disaster potential according to the number of people inside and facilities of nearby region of the place accident taken place. The evaluation of the direction of building collapse during search and rescue operation would enhance possibility to reach more living in shorter time. Building collapses which can be considered as a miniature of big disaster potentials like earthquakes can be appraised as an important practical training and experience source on event-place administration, search and rescue operations and injured evacuation. We believe that share of the analysis and acquired experiences of this kind of studies would contribute interfering big disaster potentials.