MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Semsûr (Adıyaman)- Debris removal in Semsûr after the Maraş earthquakes makes invisible the damage caused by the earthquakes. The city is now a flat area. However, those who lost their relatives in the earthquakes always remember February 6 and what has happened since then; they have been mourning for their relatives for months. Their pain has turned into anger and they have visited the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the city every day to lament for their relatives who lost their lives under the collapsed buildings for two months.

Two women waiting by the rubble every day

Every day, two women visit the rubble of two collapsed buildings to lament for their relatives, who died under the collapsed buildings. One of them is Güle Akar, who lost five of her family members and the other is Hayriye Demir, who lost four of her family members. For two months, they have visited the collapsed buildings despite everything. Two women, two mothers share the same fate after the earthquakes. They lament for their relatives every day by the rubble of the collapsed buildings.

‘We were not allowed to rescue them’

Güle Akar lost her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren in a building, which collapsed in the Cumhuriyet neighborhood of the city. She told NuJINHA what had happened on the day of the earthquakes by holding the t-shirt of her 5-year-old grandson. “We came here just after the earthquakes. My son came from Canada on the first day of the earthquakes. On the first day of the earthquakes, we heard voices under the rubble of the collapsed buildings. We rented an excavator to rescue our family members; however, we were not allowed to rescue them. If search and rescue efforts had been started earlier, my children would have been rescued.”

‘We heard their voices on the first day’

After nine days, the dead bodies of Güle Akar’s relatives were found under the rubble. “My son came here from Canada in a day; however, the authorities came here after four days. If they had come earlier, one of them could have been rescued. I lost five of my family members. We cried, asked for help but no one came to rescue them. My heart is burning. There was no government here; everyone choked to death under the rubble. We heard their voices on the first day of the earthquakes; however, the rescue team came late. Their dead bodies were found under the rubble on the ninth day of the earthquakes.”

‘I cannot forget my children’

“My heart is burning,” said Güle Akar while lamenting for her relatives by the rubble of the collapsed building. “They did not want to give their bodies, saying that they would be buried in mass. We did not accept this and resisted. We took their bodies and buried them next to each other. I lost my heart, my five children. I cannot forget my children even for a second. They are sleeping next to each other now.”