Heartbreaking pictures showing a father in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, holding the lifeless hand of his daughter after she was crushed under concrete in Monday’s devastating earthquake have emerged.
Sitting hunched amid the ruins, Mesut Hancer can be seen holding onto his 15-year-old child as her body remained trapped beneath the rubble.
Broken glass, destroyed furniture and twisted steel surround the family, as workers conduct a colossal rescue mission in near-freezing temperatures.
Although the rescue of a 14-year-old boy in Kahramanmaras on Tuesday offered a glimmer of hope that others will survive, the death toll continues to climb as search teams navigate blocked roads, collapsed infrastructure and violent aftershocks.
According to officials in Turkey and Syria at least 8,000 people have now been confirmed dead and some 40,000 others injured following the quake.
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who died in the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake’s epicentre, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast, on February 7, 2023. – Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved frigid weather, aftershocks and collapsing buildings, as they dug for survivors buried by an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people. Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, a city of two million where entire blocks now lie in ruins under gathering snow. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Countries offer help
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that approximately 70 countries and 14 international organizations have offered aid to Turkey.
The United Nations announced a $25 million grant from the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund to help “provide urgent life-saving assistance in the region,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general of the United Nations, said on Tuesday.
19 member countries of the EU including Croatia, Estonia, France, Spain and Greece, are reported to have offered support to Turkey. China will provide $6 million in aid to Turkey, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. The country will also deploy “heavy urban rescue teams and medical teams” to provide “relief materials urgently needed” by the Turkish.
South Korea also announced that it would offer $5m in emergency humanitarian assistance to Turkey, and dispatch 110 workers to support its search and rescue operations. Medical supplies will also be delivered, a spokesperson from its foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
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Survivors are still being pulled from the rubble more than 48 hours after the quake hit, crushing thousands under their homes.
Story was adapted from CNN.
