Rescuers yesterday raced against the clock to save people buried under rubble as hundreds spent a terrified night in tents after a powerful earthquake claimed 27 lives in Turkey and Greece.
The magnitude 7 earthquake killed 25 people and injured 804 on Turkey’s west coast after it struck on Friday afternoon, with its epicenter off the coastal town of Seferihisar in Izmir province.
It also killed two teenagers on their way home from school in Greece, and caused a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a sea surge that turned streets into rushing rivers in one Turkish coastal town.
Photo: AFP
In Bayrakli, Turkish families and friends looked on in agony, exhaustion and hope as workers painstakingly went through the rubble of two buildings that were completely flattened by the quake.
Just five minutes across town, worried crowds watched as a black bag was taken away from another collapsed building in the early hours yesterday.
“Let me see who it is,” one man shouted.
Photo: Reuters
In small green spaces close to the damaged buildings, the municipality set up large white tents for the survivors, while the Turkish Ministry of Health’s medical rescue teams offered smaller tents for frightened families.
Throughout the night, hot soup and water were available for those waiting outside as the temperature fell.
Azize Akkoyun watched as the rescuers worked.
“Those curtains, they belonged to my daughter’s in-laws,” Akkoyun said, as she waited for news.
“We will wait all night. God willing they will come out alive,” she said, adding that they were unable to reach them by telephone.
Residents said that Bayrakli, with a population of more than 300,000, was a fast-developing district with new buildings popping up on the outskirts of the Aegean city of Izmir.
A few steps away, the smashing of concrete, heavy machinery and dust filled the air except for the moments when everything stopped in the hope of hearing a longed-for call for help from a survivor.
Hope grew that more survivors could be found following reports in state media that a 53-year-old and 62-year-old were rescued about 17 hours after the quake.
The Turkish government’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said that 100 people have been pulled out alive.
The earthquake was felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul.
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