With survivors afraid to return home after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the airport has become a refuge for many
Survivors of the deadly earthquake in Turkey have sought shelter in the official waiting room at Gaziantep airport, while hundreds of rescuers from more than 70 countries are in the country searching for survivors.
As the search and rescue operation enters a critical phase, teams from Britain, Qatar and Israel are arriving at Gaziantep airport, near the epicenter of Monday’s deadly earthquake that has killed more than 7,800 people, while the number of people trapped in the rubble is unknown.
People take shelter in Gaziantep airport, southern Turkey, as aid workers from Qatar arrive with relief supplies. Countries around the world have mobilized rapidly to send aid and rescue workers after a massive earthquake killed more than 8,000 people in Turkey and Syria.#NTVNews pic.twitter.com/p5gZjvA32v
— NTV UGANDA (@ntvuganda) February 8, 2023
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has warned that the next 48 hours will be “crucial” in the search for any survivors amid polar temperatures.
With survivors afraid to return home after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the airport has become a refuge for many.
About 100 people are sleeping wrapped in blankets in a waiting room at the terminal usually used to host Turkish politicians and celebrities.
Local authorities have banned citizens from staying in their homes due to the many aftershocks in the area.
Mustafa Ehiantsi, a 20-year-old student, is one of the many earthquake victims who have taken refuge in the airport’s official hall along with five other members of his family. He says he was sleeping when the big earthquake hit on Monday.
“It was like a nightmare, like a ferris wheel. We were waiting outside when the second earthquake happened a few hours later. Now we are all terrified. We sleep here, we eat here. We are safe here, there is electricity and sewage. I don’t know when we will leave. “, Ehianchi tells AFP.
Tens of thousands of people in this city of two million spent the night in their cars or in the countryside lighting fires to keep warm.
Inside the airport a Turkish soldier comes and goes holding a baby in his arms trying to make it not cry.
Mothers with small children have found refuge inside the office of the manager of the airport hall.
“We saw the buildings falling and that’s how we know we’re lucky to be alive. But now our lives are so uncertain. How will I be able to take care of these children? We’re desperate,” says Zahide Sutsu.
RES-EMP
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