Manisa mayor dies days after electric shock at home
MANİSA
Manisa Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek died in hospital on June 9 days after being electrocuted at his home, Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu has announced.
“Despite all medical interventions, Manisa Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek, who had been receiving treatment at the hospital following the accident he suffered, has passed away,” Memişoğlu said in a statement on X.
The minister extended his condolences to Zeyrek’s family and friend. Numerous political figures also shared condolence messages for the late mayor from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also posted a message on his social media account saying, “I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of Manisa Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek. I pray for God's mercy on the deceased Zeyrek and offer my condolences to his family, colleagues, the citizens of Manisa, and the entire CHP organization.”
On June 6, the mayor suffered a severe electric shock while intervening in a malfunction in the pool’s machine room at his residence in the western province.
The Manisa mayor’s heart stopped but was restarted approximately 70 minutes after the incident. He had remained in intensive care for three days.
“There is neither a positive nor a negative development. He continues to fight for his life. At this stage, we are not considering waking him up,” the chief physician of the hospital treating Zeyrek said in the briefing before the minister announced the mayor’s death.
Due to impaired kidney function, he had placed on dialysis upon arrival and assessments indicate that other organs have also suffered significant damage, the doctor said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors investigating the incident dispatched a team of expert electrical engineers to the property. Statements have been taken from two individuals, but as of now, neither the Manisa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office nor the Manisa Police Department has found any evidence suggesting sabotage or malicious intent.
The initial focus of the investigation is to identify what kinds of negligence, if any, led to the accident and who may be responsible.
There was a leakage current of 67 watts in the machine room, the preliminary findings by the expert panel showed as per a June 9 report by daily Hürriyet.
The electric fault occurred in the panel powering the system responsible for circulating and pumping the pool water. The panel had an unstable voltage flow, known as “fluctuating voltage.”
The experts estimated that the mayor was subjected to this current for three to five minutes.
“The panel, located in a confined and narrow space, experienced a malfunction the day before the incident. When the issue recurred, Zeyrek reportedly said, ‘Let me go check,’ and decided to investigate personally, despite his wife's objections,” the daily said.
“Shortly thereafter, his wife heard a loud noise. Realizing what had happened, she immediately cut the power by flipping the breaker. She found Zeyrek unconscious and collapsed.”
The expert report said that he was electrocuted while on the stairs and fell. The space he entered was narrow, damp and wet, exacerbating the severity of the incident.
Due to the confined environment, rescue teams had significant difficulty retrieving him, a process that took five to six minutes.
The mayor’s daughter, Nehir Zeyrek, posted on Instagram shortly after the incident, suggesting negligence played a role.
CHP leader Özgür Özel continued to keep vigil at the hospital where Zeyrek is being treated.
“The chief physician provides regular updates on his condition. A WhatsApp group, coordinated by [ex-Health Minister] Fahrettin Koca, current Health Minister [Kemal Memişoğlu] and including distinguished professors from Bilkent University, is closely monitoring the entire process,” Özel said.
