Turkey-Syria earthquake: Victims risk lives for blankets, sweaters and pillows
HATAY, TURKIYE - "I am not someone who is well-to-do, that is why I have to have courage to save my properties that could still be used, although I know my home is about to collapse any time," lamented a Syrian man affected by the recent earthquake.
Ibrahim Almaz, 29, had lived in Kirikhan for the past 20 years.
Kirikhan is one of the cities besides Gaziantep and Antakya destroyed in the earthquake that hit the republic on Feb 6.
Ibrahim's house was among the 12,000 buildings damaged and destroyed due to the disaster.
When met at about 3pm (local time), Ibrahim and his younger brother Omar, 15, were unloading things from inside their house such as food, blankets, clothes, pillows, mattresses and sweaters as well as electrical items that could still be used.
They had to use a rope to bring down the items from inside their house, which was on the third floor of a four-storey building.
Ibrahim had waited on the ground to take the items while his older brother was upstairs passing the items down using the rope.
"This is the effort of our family of nine to continue living.
"If we don't brave ourselves to go through this, who is going to help us? It's the same for the other Syrians who live in this city," he told Sinar Harian here on Thursday.
He said he and his family were currently staying at his uncle's house located 50 kilometres away from his destroyed home.
"We have lost our one and only shelter, but fortunately my uncle had sympathised with our fate," he said.
A survey on the area found that most of the residential buildings were no longer safe to live in while the shops, supermarkets and restaurants were no longer operating.
Kirikhan which was previously a lively city bustling with various economic activities, had turned into a deserted town after the earthquake.
"But Allah had written it down (the destinies) that an earthquake would occur here. The destruction could be seen clearly," he said.
Sinar Harian together with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Syria Care and Task Emergency Medical Service (TEMS) are currently in Turkey, on a mission to aid the earthquake victims including in Syria.
Those who want to contribute funds to the mission could do so through the #BantuanBencana Sinar Karangkraf x Syria Care Fund at https://info.sinarharian.com.my/tabung-bantuanbencana-sinar-karangkraf-x-syria-care/.
Donations could be made through Sinar Karangkraf Sdn Bhd Maybank account 564276-529068.
