Survivors have found shelter in the official waiting room at Gaziantep airport of the deadly earthquake in Turkey. About 100 people, wrapped in blankets, they sleep in a terminal waiting room 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.
20-year-old student Mustafa Ehiandsi 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 drainage. I don’t know when we will leave,” he told AFP.
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 fall 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 are desperate,” says Zahide Sutsu.
As the search and rescue operation enters a critical phase, teams from Britain, Qatar and Israel arrive at Gaziantep airport, near the epicenter of the deadly earthquake, from which more than 7,800 people have lost their lives, while the number of those trapped in the rubble is unknown.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has warned that the next 48 hours will be critical in the search for any survivors amid polar temperatures.
Source: News Beast
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