Turkish eyewitness describes ‘maze of horror’ caused by deadly earthquake

In an interview with Jewish News, Turkish eyewitness Osman Sahin has described how his immediate family managed to survive several earthquakes that have left nearly 9,000 people dead so far. 

Sahin, 39, who lives in the southern Turkish city of Malatya, said the first earthquake woke him and his family up in the middle of the night. “Our house was relatively stable so we weren’t hurt. When I realised what had happened, I called my parents, brother and sister to make sure they were okay. We then jumped in the car and drove to my aunt to meet the rest of the family.”

When Sahin started driving through the city with his wife and two kids, aged 3 and 6, they saw the immense destruction the first earthquake had left.

“It was like driving in a maze of collapsed buildings. All we cared about was bringing our kids in safety,” Sahin said.

When they arrived at his aunt’s house, the rest of his family stood outside in the cold, afraid of what could happen if another earthquake hit. “My brothers have children that are 6 months and one year old, so we had to go back in my aunts house, which is quite stable. It was rebuilt after another earthquake destroyed her old house two years ago.”

The municipality of Malatya, a city of nearly a million people located some 138 miles of Gaziantep, the epicentre of the earthquake, issued a warning during the day that the water might be contaminated.

Sahin decided to take his car to try and find food and water, driving through empty and ruined streets, which were mostly blocked: “I must have seen about 40 collapsed buildings on that trip. Most kiosks and gas stations were either closed or didn’t water or electricity for that matter.”

As Sahin was driving around the city, a second earthquake hit: “Suddenly people started flocking to the streets, leaving their buildings. And I decided to drive back to my family right away.”

Knowing that more earthquakes could hit, Sahin and his entire family decided to sleep in their cars, despite it being below zero degrees.

“My wife, sister, aunt and myself slept in our car, along with three kids. My sister’s 7-month-old baby, and our two kids. My 3-year-old son slept on my lap the entire night. We felt several after shakes from the earthquakes and we had to turn on the engine from time to time to heat up the car because it was so cold,” Sahin said.

Sahin said his kids are still scared and that he makes sure they know where he’s going if he leaves the room.

“My father’s niece got killed in the earthquake. She was living alone in her house. I also know a 21-year-old man who got killed inside his house. I know my immediate family is safe, but I have many friends, students and colleagues that I haven’t been able to reach yet,” Sahin said.

Sahin and his family are now staying with a relative in a city some 60 miles east of Malatya where they feel safer.

More than 9,000 people have been killed in the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria. Israel, along with 64 other countries, have sent emergency teams to help local Turkish authorities rescue and search for victims.