KONYA, Turkey, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Turkish investigators Friday placed the death toll from the collapse of an apartment complex at 51.
And the news may get worse: besides the 51 confirmed dead, officials said some 45 remain missing in the Monday collapse, the BBC reported.
The block of about 40 flats, located in southwestern Turkey, was home to some 140 people, but many may have had families staying for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
Rescue and recovery crews have found crushed bodies of entire families, according to CNN-Turk television.
Atilla Ozdemir, chief of Turkey's civil defense, said it was impossible to guess the number of people inside.
"It is strongly estimated that there are no air pockets left inside the rubble to survive," he said. "We think, the people rushed to stairs and elevators in panic and we're very close to that part."
