Protests in Istanbul

Protesters gathered near an Istanbul construction site on Sunday, angry at the deaths of 10 people when a lift crashed at the Torunlar Center on Saturday night.

"This is not an accident, this was not fate, this is murder!" the crowd shouted, according to a report by the AFP news agency. AFP and Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet both reported that police ultimately contained the demonstrators using tear gas and water cannons.

The protesters had gathered in the upscale Mecidiyekoy district to express their anger at lax work safety standards in the country. According to the International Labor Organization, Turkey has the world's third highest rate of deadly workplace accidents. In May, 301 miners died in the western town of Soma, in Turkey's worst ever industrial accident.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the workers' deaths "very painful and very saddening," pledging an investigation into the elevator accident. Labor Minister Faruk Celik said the government would press charges "if there is any negligence or shortcoming."

Police on Sunday released eight people initially detained for questioning, including the director of safety for the building site, after hearing their testimonies. The cause of the freight elevator crash was not immediately clear.

Istanbul was the main focal point of major protests against the government of newly-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - Turkey's prime minister for more than a decade - in 2013. With Erdogan now in the president's role, and planning to expand the powers of what used to be a mainly ceremonial position, Turkey's new government won a vote of confidence on Saturday. Davutoglu, formerly Erdogan's foreign minister, is the new premier.

msh/pfd (AFP, dpa)