HATAY - In many cities of Çukurova, where destruction was experienced after the earthquake, the people spent the night on the streets. In cities where aid and search and rescue teams did not go, citizens tried to save the people under the rubble by their own means.

 

Earthquakes, the epicenters of which were Maraş and Gaziantep, caused a great disaster in Diyarbakır, Urfa, Malatya, Osmaniye, Mardîn, Adana, Hatay and Adıyaman. While search and rescue efforts continue for those trapped under the rubble, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced that 3,381 people have lost their lives, 20,426 have been injured, and 7,840 have been rescued alive so far.

 

'WE ARE ABANDONED AS USUAL'

 

Search and rescue teams have not been sent to many parts of Hatay, which is one of the cities where destruction was experienced due to earthquakes. Tens of thousands of people spent the night on the streets in the city where thousands of people were under rubble. Zekiye Yiğitbaşı, the former head of Hatay Metropolitan Belediyespor, which was connected to a live broadcast of a television, stated that a site with 10 blocks had collapsed and said: “Thousands of people died. We were abandoned, abandoned as usual. There is no AFAD, there is no state, there is no one. Children, grandchildren are hungry, we are thirsty. I think I lost my mother. There is no possibility of going out of the city, the roads are split. Incoming planes are going back. We are sitting in cars. No help, AFAD is down here. We welcome outside help. Nobody has come yet."