Dozens missing in Turkey rubble

Hopes are fading of finding survivors

Rescuers who have recovered more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed block of flats in Turkey, say they have little hope of finding more survivors.

At least 40 people are now known to have died when the 11-storey building in Konya collapsed on Monday. Thirty-one survived but about 60 are missing.

The authorities say poor construction may have led to the collapse and two contractors have been detained.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to punish those responsible.

Visiting the scene on Thursday, Mr Erdogan said: "This incident cannot be left without an answer. There should be a price for it and there will be."

The block of about 40 flats was home to about 140 people but many may have had families staying for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Grim finds

Mr Erdogan said at least 25 residents were not in the building at the time.

Rescue workers, who have recovered about 13 more bodies since Wednesday, say hopes of finding survivors beneath the huge pile of rubble are fading fast. The last person to be found alive was rescued on Tuesday.

Rescuers have been searching since the collapse on Monday

"Time is running short. There remains very little hope of finding anybody else alive," rescue worker Zekai Turan told NTV.

People clearing the site have told harrowing stories of the dead families found beneath the concrete.

Many were said to squeezed between the broken slabs of what had been the ceilings and floors.

Two boys were found hugging each other and the body of a young woman was found with her head on the chest of an elderly woman.

Losing hope

A pregnant woman and a two-year-old girl were also among the dead.

Some relatives waiting for news at the site said they had lost hope.

"There is nothing to do, the wish of Allah will come through," said Mustafa Ozdemir, who had family members in the building.

Turkey has suffered from collapsing buildings in the past and the construction industry is always the prime suspect.

Shoddy building work was blamed for thousands of the deaths in the 1999 earthquake.