The dormitory manager has been suspended pending an investigation following a student's death at the Güzelhisar Girls' Student Dormitory of the Higher Education Student Loans and Dormitories Institution (KYK) in Aydın.
The elevator, which was malfunctioning fell yesterday (October 25), resulting in the loss of one student's life.
According to a report from the Anadolu Agency, Aydın Governor Yakup Canbolat, speaking after the incident that occurred yesterday (October 25), mentioned that 16 people had entered the elevator designed for 15 people. He stated that the elevator started moving downward on the first floor before the doors were fully closed, and during this time, one of the students inside the elevator tragically lost her life while attempting to exit in a state of panic, as she got stuck.
Governor Canbolat continued his statement as follows:
"There is no health issue with the 15 students. Both a judicial and administrative investigation are being conducted by the Republic Prosecutor's Office regarding the incident. The other students are safe; they were all rescued from the elevator. Unfortunately, we lost one of our students.
"All our teams are on site. The elevator underwent maintenance on September 21. However, besides the investigation led by the Republic Prosecutor's Office, we are also initiating an administrative inquiry. We will thoroughly investigate and examine every aspect of the matter."
"We had been warning for days"
Meanwhile, a large group of students gathered in front of the dormitory, expressing their outrage by chanting "KYK, the murderer." The students stated that they had been warning the dormitory management for days about the dangerous condition of the elevators, but their warnings were not taken seriously.
One student described the incident in a video shared on social media.
"We were strongly advised not to record any videos, and, moreover, we are not allowed to go out of these places. They are trying to keep us from raising our voices. We had been warning about the elevators for days, and now one has finally fallen. It is not only the spoiled food anymore, now our lives are in danger," she says. (TY/PE)