Istanbul building collapse kills two; rescuers race to reach trapped child

At least two people were killed after the lower floors of a seven-storey building partially collapsed in Istanbul’s Maltepe district on Thursday, with rescue teams searching for people still believed to be trapped in the rubble, officials said.The building’s three lower floors, including a ground-floor shop, collapsed before dawn in the district on the Asian side of Istanbul. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known and an investigation was underway.Residents on the upper floors were evacuated safely, while rescue teams pulled eight people from the rubble, according to the latest update. One body was recovered, while at least three people were still believed to be trapped inside.Earlier, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said rescuers had made contact with a six-year-old child trapped in the rubble but were unable to reach the child from their initial location. Teams were attempting to reach the child from another direction.Rescue operations were complicated by warnings that the partially collapsed building could suffer a further collapse. Authorities also evacuated nearby buildings as a precaution.The incident comes as Istanbul and other parts of Turkey continue an urban transformation programme aimed at replacing ageing and earthquake-prone buildings with safer structures.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.