A celebration of a local election win in the Turkish city of Denizli turned deadly for Türkiye’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), with one person killed and seven others injured.
The accident occurred overnight as party members and supporters gathered to celebrate the victory of Kadir Tatik in his campaign for the local municipality head’s office, after preliminary results of the election were announced.
Footage from the scene shows multiple party members gathered on a balcony of a building, with a crowd of onlookers cheering them on outside. The balcony is seen abruptly collapsing, coming clean off the rest of the structure.
The accident left eight party members who were standing on the balcony injured. Three people received serious injuries, with one of them, the deputy head of the local CHP chapter, Mehmet Palaz, dying in hospital shortly afterwards.
The fatal accident mars a convincing victory secured by the CHP at the Turkish local elections, held throughout the country on Sunday. The party secured a major win against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The opposition party is now set to take control of the capitals of at least 35 out of Türkiye’s 81 provinces.
