Monitoring Desk
TURKEY: When the Turkish earthquake struck more than a week ago, the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Iskenderun Devlet Hastanesi hospital was turned into rubble.
Rescue workers on the scene estimate that 300 people were inside, including staff, patients, and visitors. They are unable to say how many people survived. The outpouring of rage in this town is growing, not least because many residents have seen a building report from the health ministry’s website.
“Earthquake resistance test came back negative,” it says in red. It came out in 2012. It’s still being determined what, if any, remedial work was done, but locals at the site are debating and sharing information.
When the building collapsed, Alican Kenar’s grandmother and brother were inside. His grandmother’s body was discovered Tuesday evening, more than a week after the earthquake. Kenar stated that this is entirely the fault of a person or people and the government, which is obvious. This isn’t fate; it’s my fault.
Families affected due to Turkish earthquake
Other families remain at the site’s base, covered in dust as the diggers sift through the material. The families tell us they paid for the machinery and fuel out of their own pockets to find their missing loved ones. According to some, they have only seen volunteer search and rescue teams, not state-funded teams. Kenar claims to have seen some officials in the early days, but only a few with no equipment. He went on to say that this building had been abandoned for two to three days.
“This is a very messy reality. It could have gone differently if we had been prepared. We should have learned from our mistakes. While we were on the scene, the Turkish official search and rescue team, AFAD, arrived but could not locate us.”
“We’ve been waiting here for nine days, one woman shouted. Recovery workers occasionally pause their work, once to pull out a handbag and search through the wallet for any form of identification. Then there’s a yell,” Kenar said
They discovered another body. His hospital wristband identifies him. A family runs forward, holding photos on their phones, which the rescuers examine. It is indeed their father. “Papa, papa,” his daughters scream as his body is carried away in a black body bag.
