Turkish police detain developer trying to leave the country after residential complex collapse.

In Turkey, the police detained a developer as he was trying to leave the country after the collapse of his residential building during the earthquake. In connection with accusations of ignoring building codes and construction quality to stimulate the construction boom, 131 arrest warrants have been issued. The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey has exceeded 28,000, with fears that this number could reach 50,000.

The video captures the moment of the arrest of Mehmet Yasar Choshkun at Istanbul Airport on Friday as he attempted to fly to Montenegro. Choshkun is a contractor for the Ronesans Residence complex, which collapsed in Antakya. The video also shows the arrest of Mehmet Ertan Akaya, the developer of the Ayse Mehmet Polat apartments, which collapsed in the city of Gaziantep.

Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay stated that 131 suspects have been identified as responsible for the collapse of buildings in 10 provinces affected by last week's tremors. "Arrest warrants have been issued for 113 of them," he said at a briefing at the disaster management coordination center in Ankara. "We will closely monitor this until the necessary judicial process is completed, especially regarding buildings that suffered significant damage and caused deaths and injuries."

The Turkish police have already detained at least 12 people, which has complicated rescue efforts in some areas. One of the detained contractors, Yavuz Karakush, told reporters: "I have a clear conscience. I built 44 buildings. Four of them were destroyed. I did everything according to the rules," the DHA agency quotes him as saying.

Experts have been warning for many years that many new buildings in Turkey are unsafe due to corruption and government policies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acknowledged shortcomings in the response, but during one of his visits to the disaster site, he seemed to blame fate. "Such things have always happened. It's part of the plan of fate," he said.

Currently, six days after the earthquake, the situation is becoming increasingly desperate. Tens of thousands of rescuers are searching for survivors in the devastated areas, despite the freezing weather that is exacerbating the suffering of millions. Thousands of people were left trapped yesterday after German rescuers and the Austrian army halted search operations due to clashes between unspecified factions, which are expected to intensify as food supplies dwindle in the coming days. "Aggression between factions in Turkey is on the rise," said Austrian Colonel Pierre Kugelweis. "The likelihood of saving lives does not match the security risk." The search for survivors has resumed under the protection of the Turkish army.

Millions of people are left homeless in southern Turkey and northern Syria, and temperatures continue to drop below zero every night. The UN has warned that over 800,000 people do not have enough food, and its on-the-ground assistant has warned that the final death toll from the earthquake is likely to double. In Syria, the number of dead has already exceeded 3,500, but new figures have not been released since Friday.