Five dead as bottom of Istanbul building crumbles

The collapse occurred early Thursday on the Asian side of the sprawling metropolis, the city governor's office said.

"Search and rescue operations in the area under the rubble ... ended after the discovery of the last victim's body at 6:15 am (0315 GMT)," the city governor's office said.

Two girls aged five and 10, a boy of 12 and two other people died in the collapse, while nine people were pulled alive from the rubble.

The collapse saw the bottom three storeys cave in, with the top four storeys perched on top.

"The building was built in 1987," Nuri Aslan, Istanbul deputy mayor, told reporters. "The basement, ground floor and first two floors were built in accordance with the norms at the time, but the other floors were added later."

Fifty-five people living around the accident site have been evacuated as a precaution.

According to Turkish media, the manager of a shop on the ground floor of the building said she had noticed cracks in the structure since April.

Local media estimate that up to 1,200 structures in Istanbul could collapse because of faulty construction or materials.

In August an empty building collapsed in the city without causing any casualties.