Istanbul apartment block collapses, killing woman

ISTANBUL, Feb 21 (Reuters) A five-storey apartment block in an Istanbul suburb collapsed early today, killing a woman, Turkish television and officials said.

Rescue teams with dogs dug survivors out of the rubble after the building in the Zeytinburnu district fell shortly after midnight.

Istanbul's governor Muammer Guler said 26 people had been rescued and were being treated in hospital, among them a seriously injured child.

He said he did not expect more people to be found as records showed 27 people lived in the building. A block next door was evacuated.

Witnesses told Turkish television the building had been damaged in an earthquake in 1999 which killed around 18,000 people in northwest Turkey. Shoddy construction, lack of building regulation and corruption have been blamed for building collapses in Turkey in the past.

REUTERS PDS KN0808