Is the fire disaster that caused 29 deaths in Beşiktaş a work accident?

The death of 29 people and the serious injury of 1 person in the fire that broke out during the renovation of the nightclub in the basement of the 16-storey building in the Beşiktaş district of İstanbul brought the issue of occupational health and safety to the agenda again.

Noting that if there is a flammable environment, even a very small spark in the environment can start a fire, Head of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan stated that "After the fire started, it seems to have progressed rapidly. However, even so, some of them must have been able to escape through the rear exit doors. None of them who appeared here escaped.”

Occupational Health and Safety Specialist Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl said that "A fast-burning, easily flammable, suddenly flaming material may have turned the place into a hellish fireball," and he added that precautions should be taken before starting the renovation process and that there are deficiencies in these measures.

Üsküdar University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Head of Occupational Health and Safety Department, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan and Occupational Health and Safety Specialist Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl evaluated the death of 29 people and the serious injury of 1 person in the fire that broke out during the renovation of the nightclub in the basement of the 16-storey building in the Beşiktaş district of İstanbul in terms of occupational health and safety.

“We could not save 29 people in a sudden fire in a closed area, what if there were a thousand people..."

In his assessment at the scene, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan said that "We all are sorry to hear what happened, and it is a really painful event. We could not save 29 people in a sudden fire in the closed area. Think about it this way, when this place is very busy, when there are 500 or a thousand people inside, how are we going to evacuate these thousand people when 29 people cannot be evacuated?"

Stating that it is necessary to look at the fire incident in two ways, Asst. Prof. Prof. Rüştü Uçan expressed that "The first one is proactive. Preventing this before such an incident happens... If there is a problem with the exits of such businesses, they should be closed. The main problem is, how many places do we have in Türkiye like this? In Iraq, 143 people were burned to death during a wedding. We need to examine very well what we need to do to prevent a similar incident. This will set an example for us. I wish it had not happened.”

"Was not there a fire extinguisher too?"

Stating that the investigators related to the incident will examine the permits on the documents, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan explained that whatever the capacity of this workplace is, it should have a structure that can evacuate in a very short time, in 2-4 minutes, in such an event, and that there should be exit doors accordingly and that in case of an incident, it should be possible to evacuate them immediately.

"The 30 people who were here could not evacuate. Did it not have a door anywhere other than where the fire broke out? We cannot understand how it happened. They will come out with detailed investigations, but it seems that they could not evacuate. Was not there a fire extinguisher? If you cannot put out the fire in a minute or two, it suddenly gets too big. There are a lot of flammable materials here. There is thinner. The flame may have grown quickly. We do not know if there are evacuation corridors or not.”

Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan stated that if the oxygen rate in the renovation area is higher than the normal level, even a very small flame source can cause a flash in an instant and people cannot escape and said that "We may have encountered such a situation. It is an event that can only be found with detailed research. That is, there are not only flammable materials, but also materials for sound insulation. They have big electrical spotlights, they have cables. There is a large amount of material suitable for burning. At first, they could not do anything, and it seems that there is no one in these people who has firefighting knowledge. In other words, no extinguishing work could be carried out at the first moment."

"Even a very small spark can start a fire"

Noting that if there is a flammable environment, even a very small spark in the environment can start a fire. Prof. Rüştü Uçan said that "In other words, it can even initiate a phone call. Here, if welding is done, that welding fire is already enough to start the first fire spark. After the first start, it seems to have progressed quickly. However, even so, some of them must have been able to escape through the rear exit doors. None of those who appeared here could escape. 29 people are dying.”

Referring to the possibility that the escape routes may have been locked, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan also said that expensive materials and electronic devices may be locked in fear of being stolen.

"There must be at least three escape routes. Unfortunately, there was not. And if there was, it was closed!"

Evaluating the existence of such a place under a 16-storey building, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan stated that "The lack of escape routes or the lack of suitable escape routes is a very big problem. There does not seem to be a situation here that indicates that any work on evacuation has already been carried out. There is not even a place for them to escape. They could not get out the door.”

Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl: "A material that suddenly flared up may have turned the place into a fireball"

In his assessment on the subject Occupational Health and Safety Specialist Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl noted that the materials used during the renovation process became important in this fire and stated that "A number of easily flammable or combustible thinner-like materials may have been used. We use this prediction because they cannot escape. Therefore, a fast burning, easily glowing, suddenly flaming material may have turned the place into a hellish fireball."

"It looks like a fire in a chemical factory"

Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl also stated that it is similar to a fire that can break out in a chemical factory and continued as follows: "We do not come across a fire that grows so fast in the basement of any building. The average growth rate of a fire is two, or two and a half minutes. In two, or two and a half minutes, anyone can escape. As an occupational safety expert, we aim for two minutes in evacuation drills. Here, we can guess from the fact that the workers could not escape, and the flames and smoke suddenly filled the place. Since the workers were unable to get out of the escape route, they could not find the second or third escape route that they should have, so I guess that maybe they were locked. It is also a bit difficult to predict beyond that. Here's the problem; Precautions had to be taken before starting these procedures. I think there are shortcomings in these measures. In a discotheque or nightclub-style place, there must be fire exits of the second and third fire doors. Of course, the workers knew about these things. Were these fire exits open? It may even be locked so that material cannot be stolen from inside. The number of deaths from fire in the fire is very small. You usually die of suffocation from the smoke."

Is there a lack of supervision?

Noting that the license of the building was renewed in 2018, but the fire brigade report was received in 2016, Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl expressed that "The fire brigade report has been stable since 2016. Since then, no one has inspected or looked at it. This is one of the problems. I cannot say anything clear; however, you must look at it. Sometimes we see that after 3-5 years, the systems installed become dysfunctional because they are not inspected." Stating that a serious examination is required there, Asst. Prof. Nuri Bingöl said that "One of the biggest problems here was that there should be automatic fire extinguisher systems in such a place. Even if there is a renovation. When a fire breaks out, they automatically use water. The success rate is also about 97 percent. Therefore, it is very effective. So, this building is a 16-storey building. In this type of workplace, this should be mandatory. Expert reports will explain whether they are found, whether they are working, and if so, why they are not working at the moment."

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)