Suleyman Soylu made the announcement late on Thursday after emergency teams, assisted by sniffer dogs, found one more body in the wreckage from Wednesday’s collapse in Istanbul’s mostly residential Kartal district.
Friends and relatives on Friday continued to wait near the wreckage for news of their missing loved ones.
So far, 13 people have been pulled out of the wreckage alive.
Officials have not disclosed how many people are unaccounted-for and it is not clear if rescuers hope to find any more survivors.
