Debris removal continues in Hatay province, which was largely devastated by two earthquakes on February 6. While many dead people are still reported to be trapped under the debris, many victims remain missing. The death toll from the earthquakes in the city is unknown. The only official statement came from Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Lütfü Savaş, who revealed on February 18 that around 20 thousand people lost their lives and at least 30 thousand damaged buildings would be demolished.

MASSIVE GRAVEYARD

The corpses pulled from the rubble are buried in a graveyard in the Narlıca district of Antakya. The cemetery is divided into 5 sections. There are about a thousand people buried in each section. Diggers are now digging more graves.

SIGNS ON GRAVE BOARDS

Since there are many graves with no names, and more graves are constantly being dug, families can identify the graves of their relatives from the numbers on the grave boards or personal items such as hats, clothes, scarves, and berets that they left around the boards.

GRAVES MARKED WITH NUMBERS

In the first part of the cemetery, where grave boards seem like saplings planted at regular intervals. Graves are marked with numbers from 1 to 995. Empty spray paint cans used for marking the graves can be seen. In an area next to the cemetery, there are coffins and hundreds of grave boards kept ready for new burials.

'THERE ARE MORE CEMETERIES'

In other parts of the cemetery, there are funeral vehicles waiting in the wings and soldiers keeping guard. An officer prevented MA reporters from taking pictures, saying that “It is forbidden to shoot. About 5 thousand people have been buried here. We do not even know the exact number. There are more cemeteries dug in other places where thousands of people were buried. It is a very bitter situation.”

Photos: MA