Two workers injured in landslide at ski complex in Eastern Turkey

Two workers were injured when they were trapped by a landslide which struck a ski-jumping complex in the eastern province of Erzurum late Monday, local Daily News reported on Tuesday.

The two workers were trapped under masses of earth after a landslide occurred, and were taken to the Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital by other workers who rushed to the scene, according to the report.

The two workers were among those who had been a part of the reconstruction effort after a collapse at the complex on July 15, 2014, said the report, adding that last year's landslide completely ripped apart the complex, which was built in 2011 in the Kiremittepe bastion located in the ski resort of Palandoken for the 2011 Universiade Winter Games in Erzurum.

"We normally lighten the weight on the top of the hill to reduce the risk of a landslide. But those engineers have, on the contrary, put more weight by building (two artificial) ponds (at the top of the hill). Such areas create more weight for the slope. It may resist at first, but at a certain point, that resistance will break," said Ahmet Ercan, a professor in geophysics at Istanbul Technical University. Endi