The eight women, all workers at a textile factory, were killed in İstanbul's Halkalı district on Sept. 9, when they drowned in a van that flooded. The women were all in the rear of the van, which was designed to carry cargo rather than passengers. The owner and the manager of the company were arrested, but the driver of the van was released shortly after he was detained.A prosecutor at the Küçükçekmece Public Prosecutor's Office recently completed his indictment in the case and demanded that the owner, the manager and the driver each be sentenced to up to 15 years in jail for “causing death by negligence.” İsmail Göktür, the prosecutor, also attached expert opinions on the deaths to the indictment. The owner of the textile company was identified as Cevdet Karahasanoğlu, while the manager was identified as Ferit Göncü and the driver as Mehmet Oğuz.
More than 40 people were killed in flash floods that hit İstanbul and other parts of northwestern Turkey two weeks ago. The floods were triggered by the heaviest rainfall in 80 years. Local authorities in İstanbul faced harsh criticism as poor infrastructure and shoddy construction were blamed for the high death toll.
