(Antakya) Turkey decided on Sunday, 14 days after the February 6 earthquake, to stop the search except in the two most affected provinces, Kahramanmaras and Hatay, announced the government relief agency (AFAD).
“In many provinces, research efforts have ended. They continue in the provinces of Kahramanmaras and Hatay, in about forty buildings,” said Yunus Sezer, the boss of AFAD.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated the south of the country and Syria killed 40,689 people in Turkey, according to the latest official report released by AFAD on Sunday.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay reported that 105,000 buildings have collapsed or been severely damaged and will be demolished.
leave or stay
Bilal Jawir finishes packing the family’s belongings into the van, ready to leave Antakya, his city collapsed by the violent earthquake of February 6.
“We have no work, no life, how could we come back to live here? he blurts out. ” It hurts my heart “.
Bilal’s house is still standing, but is it reliable enough to stay there? With his wife and two daughters, he found refuge under the orange trees that adjoin their property.
Like him, millions of people whose localities have been affected, but whose homes have been spared, are faced with this dilemma: should they try to return home or leave to settle elsewhere.
More than 44,000 people died in this disaster which hit southern Turkey and Syria.
“It’s hard to leave, we have a lot of memories here, my daughters were born here, we got married here,” sighs this construction worker, securing his load securely.
Bilal Jawir will go to his uncle Hadi, 63, in Adana, less than 200 km further north, spared by the 7.8 earthquake.
“Nothing to Save”
In the street, his neighbors are preparing to do the same. Adnan and his daughter Dilay load large bags of clothes onto the pick-up.
“We have no idea what will happen to the house if it is destroyed,” says Adnan, who refuses to give his full name.
PHOTO BULENT KILIC, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People are gathered around a fire in Kahramanmaras province.
Like the Jawir family, he refuses to speculate on the solidity of his building and the foundations.
Contemplating her kitchen, Dilay’s mother laments over the broken glasses and crockery that litter the floor. “I have nothing left to save here,” she said.
Awakened by the tremor that struck at 4 a.m., the family threw themselves outside in their pajamas. She will now move into an apartment in Mersin, on the coast, 270 kilometers from Antakya.
A street away, a white car has been completely flattened by the falling buildings all around and finds itself buried under rubble and the last remnants of daily life.
Amid the disaster, however, some do not lose their business acumen.
Thus, a driver of lifting equipment, rushing from the north of the city, indicates that he has raised his rates to 75 euros per hour and charges 47 euros per mover and per truck, while his platform, hoisted up to on the fifth floor, come down a rug, photo frames and a hand mixer.
“We have increased our prices because of the danger”, justifies the entrepreneur who is careful not to give his name.
“We will rebuild”
In the old town, optician Cuneyt Eroglu, 45, whose family survived the earthquake, searches through the chaos of his shop and tries to laugh it off.
“Madame Hacer, if you can hear me, your glasses are ready,” he said, setting aside the bundles from the dust shrouding the Ottoman-era stone building.
“We’re going to stay and live here,” he says, recounting that getting his high school diploma back has given him real joy.
Unlike many other arteries, the street in front of his shop has been cleared of the collapsed walls and twisted concrete bars that cluttered it.
For the moment Mr. Eroglu and his family are living in a tent in a village near Antakya.
“Leaving is easy, but staying is important,” he says. “I want to live here for the rest of my life.”
“After all, this city has been destroyed 17 times in its history, we will build it again 18e “.
Christian Atsu’s body repatriated to Ghana
PHOTO: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A moment of silence for Christian Atsu was observed ahead of Chelsea’s game against Southampton on Saturday at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium.
The body of soccer player Christian Atsu, who died in the earthquake in Turkey, will be repatriated to Ghana on Sunday, the country’s foreign ministry said.
Atsu lost his life aged 31 in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6.
After two weeks of searching, his body was found on Saturday in the rubble of the building where he lived in Antakya. The player’s brother and sister were present at the scene at the time of the macabre discovery.
“The mortal remains will be accompanied by his family and the Ghanaian Ambassador to Turkey on board a Turkish Airlines flight which will arrive in Accra at 7:40 p.m.,” the ministry said.
Atsu’s widow, Marie-Claire Rupio, and their three children attended a tribute to the player at Newcastle, one of his former clubs, on Saturday ahead of a Premier League game against Liverpool.
The Ghanaian international striker had also played for Porto and Chelsea in particular before signing for Hatayspor in Turkey in 2022. He had played his last match for this club the day before the earthquake.