The Turkish government has detained over 100 building contractors following the earthquake that has so far killed over 28,000 people in the country. 

The country’s justice ministry set aside a special investigative unit to investigate building contractors whose buildings collapsed during the earthquake, killing thousands of Turkish citizens. 

The investigative unit called the “Earthquake Crimes Investigation Unit” has detained over 100 building contractors, who might be responsible for the collapsed buildings, and who failed to meet construction codes, the state news agency reported. 

One of the detained contractors responsible for a block of high-rise luxury flats that toppled over in Hatay province was arrested at the airport while trying to flee the country. 

Several other contractors were detained following the wave of investigations launched by the public prosecutors investigating collapsed buildings in affected provinces.

On Monday, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country, leading to the collapse of over 6,000 buildings and the death of over 28,000 people.

Turkish citizens continue to bemoan the slow nature of the rescue effort and have increasingly mounted pressure on the government to speed up the process.