Two held over Turkey flat tragedy

Rescuers have been searching since the collapse on Monday

Turkish police have detained two building contractors in connection with the deaths of at least 25 people killed when their block of flats caved in.

The authorities say poor construction may have led to the building collapse on Monday in the city of Konya.

About 31 people escaped the devastation and rescue teams are still searching the mass of concrete and rubble.

But hopes are fading of finding more people alive in the ruins of the 11-storey building, officials say.

Konya Governor Ahmet Kayhan visited the scene where he announced that security forces had detained two of the building's contractors.

It is not clear what charges they may face.

'Technical failure'

Konya police have taken samples of concrete from the rescue site to investigate claims that the building was put up in a substandard way.

Poor construction has been blamed for building disasters in the past but few builders or developers have been convicted.

It seems people tried to escape using the stairs when the shaking began but they were stranded there Lutfu Gumuscay Rescue worker

Turkey's president and prime minister have both called for tougher construction laws in the wake of the incident.

"Human life... must not be sacrificed to irresponsibility and contempt for the rules," President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the collapse as an "entirely technical failure".

"Nobody has that right," he said. "We won't allow it."

Deputy Governor of Konya Halil Uymaz said he hoped more of the missing residents would be found.

But, as people wait at the scene for news of family or friends, rescuers say chances of finding survivors are getting slimmer.

'Turning to sand'

Rescue worker Lutfu Gumuscay said a large number of the bodies had been found in collapsed stairwells.

In pictures: Search for survivors

"It seems people tried to escape using the stairs when the shaking began but they were stranded there," he told the state-run Anatolia news agency.

Another emergency worker said the search was becoming more difficult as the foundation was "turning to sand".

The 11-storey building of about 40 flats collapsed on Monday. It was home to about 140 people but many may have had families staying for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Ahmet Turkoglu, 56, said he was with his family on the eighth floor when the building caved in.

"Everything collapsed in a few seconds," he said. "My grandchildren were still holding their balloons in the debris."

Two nearby blocks have been evacuated.

The BBC's Steve Bryant in Ankara notes that Turkey is painfully accustomed to collapsing buildings and the construction industry is always the prime suspect.

Shoddy building was blamed for thousands of the deaths in the 1999 earthquake, he adds.