In the heart of the earthquake zone in Erciş, a district of Van province rocked by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Sunday, people are working together with rescue teams to dig out their loved ones from under the rubble.
İmdat Padak, 24, was among a crowd of men yesterday who was holding his mobile phone while staring at the ruins of a building. Three people from his family were buried underneath.
“I am calling them and their phones are ringing. I know they must be somewhere here,” Padak told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Erciş, a town of almost 75,000 people, now seems like a dead zone. Crowds of people are running from one place to another trying to get aid, find their relatives or help others. Zilan Street, the town’s most famous, lost all of its buildings in the quake. Dozens of people have been climbing on top of the ruins.
“They are still sending me text messages,” Ahmet Karayel said about his relatives who are buried under mounds of concrete. “They asked for water. I know they are still alive but I just do not know where exactly.”
Emergency aid teams have worked nonstop since Sunday to rescue the victims. Among the rescued is a 10-year-old boy named Yunus who was caught in the earthquake in an Internet cafe and was rescued from the ruins after almost 24 hours. Yalçın Akay, who was also rescued, was reported to have called the emergency line 155 and told them his address. Akay was rescued from a six-story building and his condition was last reported as stable.
Still, some say that the search and rescue work has been inefficient.
“The rescue teams are digging a hole, shouting for people under the rubble and trying to hear a voice. We need to have a more developed system,” said 35-year-old Resul Yılmaz. “They are working but the methods are not enough.”
