The architect of a seven-storey apartment block in Istanbul's Maltepe district and the site manager have been arrested over its collapse. The two men were first detained, then a court ordered them held in custody. The building stood in the Cevizli area.

This report follows our earlier story on the collapse in Maltepe, in which the first three floors fell and five people died.

The dead include a brother and sister. Their bodies were taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute for autopsies. Their uncle collected the brother's body the previous evening. The sister's body was handed over in the morning, after her autopsy ended. Their parents were in their home region when the building came down.

The uncle is arranging the funeral. He first went to the Söğanlı cemetery directorate, then asked that the bodies reach the Mimar Sinan mosque in Maltepe by noon. The funeral will leave from there after the midday prayer.

The uncle said his nephew had big dreams and had just bought a new car, but never got to drive it. He said he learned of the collapse and that his nephew was left under the rubble. To him, his nephew was everything.

The dead also include a 40-year-old man who worked for the Parks and Gardens Directorate of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He rented a flat in the building and lived there with his wife and their three children. The rent was about 40,000 lira a month. About 11 months ago he handed his home in the Gülsuyu area of Maltepe over for urban renewal and moved to Cevizli as a tenant, because the developer who took over his property had not started construction for a long time.

A 19-year-old relative of the family from İzmir, who had been staying with them for several days, was injured in the collapse. Her condition is good. Her father had tried to reach the dead relative by phone but got no answer.

After the court procedures, the 40-year-old man's body was sent for burial to his home region, the Silvan district of Diyarbakır province.

Video: Habertürk TV / YouTube

Video: NTV / YouTube