A businesswoman has revealed the true horror of the situation in Turkey following the catastrophic earthquakes and said that her family are there and struggling to cope.
Arman Akbay has the Wine & Coffee House in The Maltings in Salisbury and has just opened her second business venture Arman’s in Silver Street.
She said: “My father, my sisters, my niece, and my cousins all live in Adana and have had to live outside for days. Many buildings have collapsed but my family are ok.
“There is no help getting through to them and it is very cold there. Some people have gone back home but are taking it in turns to sleep in case another earthquake happens, and they need to get out quickly.”
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More than 16,000 people have been confirmed dead in Turkey and Syria since the first earthquake struck and the rescue operation continues.
Arman said: “My father went to check the home but there are structural cracks in the buildings so they are not sure if they can stay at night because, at midnight, there was another aftershock. They are very scared.”
The last significant earthquake in Turkey was in 1996 but Turkey is built on a fault line where there is a long break in the rock forming the earth's surface. Earthquakes are more likely to happen as a result.
President Tayyip Erdogan has admitted there have been problems with his government's rescue operation.
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Arman said: “Many buildings have collapsed, and we heard that a French family, mother, and children are under the rubble. But so many people are having to live outside as they cannot go home.
“I spoke with my sisters and my father, and they told me it is awful because it happened at night. It was like a nightmare, and they couldn’t understand. My niece is 10 years old, and she was shaking.”
Arman’s sister is staying in a house where many people are trying to stay safe and keep warm. Some sleep on sofas or in armchairs, and others sleep in their cars. They are mentally, and physically exhausted."
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Arman added: “There are many tall buildings, I don’t know why they do that. Other people left a building from the 7th or 8th floor, and the building collapsed behind them. Just 40 seconds later…they were very lucky.”
Tens of thousands of people are thought to have lost their homes, so donations of warm clothes, baby food, bottled water, blankets and camping equipment are being sent to Turkey and Syria.
If anyone would like to send donations to help with the rescue service, they can email nezafer@hotmail.co.uk (to donate to Turkey) or take donations for Syria to The Hair Extension Cave in Silver Street, Salisbury.
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