23 October 2009 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
The relatives of seven women who lost their lives in the September flash floods in İstanbul have settled out of court with the women's employer, a textile firm, which hired the van they drowned in.
Seven women drowned in a van in İstanbul's Halkalı neighborhood during flash flooding because the van, which was transporting them to work, did not comply with safety standards. It lacked a door or window in the rear, which was in fact designed to carry cargo and had no way of opening from the inside. The families of the seven women, who were all in the rear of the van when the flood struck, had planned to take the textile firm that employed the women to court over the deaths. The other three people in the van, who were in the front seat, had escaped.The families of the women settled out of court for TL 110,000 for each of the women, paid in cash. The owner and a manager of the textile firm where the women worked are both still in jail awaiting the start of criminal proceedings over the deaths. Van driver Mehmet O. and Cevdet K., the owner of the Pameks textile firm, are both charged with negligence and ignoring vehicle safety regulations in connection with the deaths of Naciye Karadeniz, Bircan Karadaş, Altun Yüksek, Özlem Ünal, Fikriye Özentürk, Naciye Can and Nebahat Salkım.
