Riots flare as hope fades for Turkey quake survivors

Turkish police fired into the air yesterday and fought running battles with earthquake victims demanding more government help as hope faded for scores of boys buried under a dormitory flattened by the quake.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan blamed the riot on provocateurs in the town, a centre of Kurdish armed separatist rebellion in the 1980s and 1990s. But while defending police actions he announced the Bingol police chief had been sacked.

"We are all suffering this pain together," he said. "Steps were taken rapidly and rescue teams are in control of wreckage sites. I appeal to the people of Bingol to be more calm and sensitive."

Rescue workers hacked into the wreckage of the boys' dormitory demolished by a tremor that killed at least 115 people in the impoverished mountainous area.

The official crisis centre in Bingol said 34 had died in the dormitory, built to house boys up to the age of 14 from remote villages. A further 67 children were still buried under rubble.

Workers paused only occasionally as a survivor was lifted on a stretcher or a body recovered. Parents kept vigil, wrapped in blankets before fires at the site of the catastrophe amid the silence of those still under the mountain of masonry.

Cries for help died away through the night but workers sent sniffer dogs to areas in the rubble where they suspected might be still alive.

"We will continue working on the assumption there are people alive," said an announcement made to the waiting families.

Rescuers began using heavy machinery to lift the wreckage, suggesting they no longer felt the need for extreme care.

Many in the town, fearing aftershocks from the quake that shattered dozens of houses, spent a chilly night in the open or in makeshift shelters of plastic sheeting.

Anger boiled over in the morning when more than 1,000 people marched on the Bingol governor's office. Chanting "Resign, Resign!", they accused the governor of failing to help them and demanded more tents and food.

A white police van sped headlong at the crowd forcing it to part. Seconds later police on the steps of the office fired long bursts in the air from automatic weapons for about two minutes.

Protesters fled into sidestreets, dived to the ground or took cover behind cars. As the shooting stopped, they whistled derision at police while organisers pleaded for calm.

But minutes later clashes resumed with protesters throwing stones at police vans and armoured cars. Police, some in the black masks of special forces, ducked behind buildings, firing again into the air or answering with batons and water cannon.

Many suffered injuries in the panic. A Reuters cameraman was beaten with a baton by a policeman on the steps of the governor's office and his camera was taken.

"There was no firing on people," Erdogan said. "It was firing in the air... it's something that is used from time to time, done to take control of a situation."

By the wreckage, parents still waited even as hope faded. "I haven't seen my son and I have no idea if he's alive or dead. All I want to do is see him," Halis Agadag said.

The earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, struck early on Thursday morning, catching most asleep. Buildings were crushed in the city of Bingol and other towns in the province.

Erdogan has pledged to bring to court any contractors responsible for unsafe buildings, a problem seen in a series of earthquakes in Turkey in recent years.