Turkey-Syria earthquake: Left terrified and freezing, homeless victims travel for days to seek refuge
Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday.
People have taken refuge in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centres after their homes were destroyed in the disaster.
Some 1,500 people are living in hastily erected tents in Sanliurfa, one of Turkey’s cities hit hardest by the earthquake.
Turkey-Syria earthquake – live updates
One survivor told Kay Burley on Sky News that he and his family spent two days in the rain and freezing conditions before reaching the makeshift shelters.
Mahmood and his five young children are among 25 people sleeping on the floor in a small white tent as aftershocks tremble through the area.
The scene in Hatay Antakya
“There was nothing left standing” in his hometown, he said, adding that they were surrounded by rubble.
“We were terrified of staying there, it was total devastation so we can’t stay there. It is horrible.
“Everyone is too scared to go into apartment blocks and houses. No one would dare.”
He said he was thankful to have some aid from the authorities, but there was no electricity or heating – they do not know how long they will be there.
Turkey Syria quake: A special programme. Watch live on Sky News at 3pm.
Mahmood’s nephew, holding his baby daughter, explained she cried and was unable to sleep due to the cold.
“She’s not been able to sleep at night, she’s crying all the time because of the cold. The situation is very tough, very hard.”
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Several children saved from rubble after an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria
‘We will die freezing from the cold’
Elsewhere, a three-year-old boy was among the people pulled from the wreckage of collapsed buildings in Turkey last night, as rescue crews toiled across the country and its neighbour, Syria, 48 hours after the quake struck.
Arif Kaan was trapped beneath concrete slabs and rebar in Kahramanmaras in sub-zero temperatures while rescuers cut the debris from around him, all the while trying not to trigger another collapse.
His father, Ertugrul Kisi, sobbed as Arif was pulled free and rushed to an ambulance.
“For now, the name of hope in Kahramanmaras is Arif Kaan,” a Turkish television reporter proclaimed.
People sit next to a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras
But with one day left in what experts have called the “critical” first 72 hours, these moments of hope are expected to occur less and less frequently.
And once survivors have been rescued they face another crisis – the cold.
Many in Turkey have had to sleep in cars, outside or in government shelters.
“We don’t have a tent, we don’t have a heating stove, we don’t have anything,” said Aysan Kurt, 27.
“Our children are in bad shape. We are all getting wet under the rain and our kids are out in the cold.
“We did not die from hunger or the earthquake, but we will die freezing from the cold.”
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‘Terrifying experience’
Canan Severoglu, 40, was in the heart of the Turkish city of Gaziantep when the earthquake struck.
The director of GEO, an educational company, was on the 10th floor of the Divan hotel when the tremors began. She woke up at 4.15am with what she thought was a “nightmare”.
“I couldn’t even stand up. It was such a terrifying experience. People ran down the stairs barefoot and in pyjamas and out of the hotel. It was snowing and we were so cold.”
Canan Severoglu was in the Turkish city of Gaziantep when the quake struck
Ms Severoglu got into her car and welcomed in strangers so they could stay out of the blistering conditions. She spoke to one lady who experienced the Izmit earthquake in 1999, who said this one was much stronger.
She drove out of the epicentre to a country house close to Gaziantep airport.
“In one room there were 30 people. Children were so scared and are still shaking.”
Today, she went back to the centre and saw the collapsed buildings.
“It’s so scary as I have friends in those buildings. We prayed in front of them – we just wanted to hear a voice.”
‘Where are the food trucks?’
Many people in the Turkish-Syrian disaster zone have been sleeping in their cars or in the streets under blankets, fearful of returning to buildings shaken by the huge quake.
Families sit next to a destroyed building in Antakya, southern Turkey
One woman in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, where dozens of covered bodies are lined up on the ground outside a hospital, said she had not seen any rescue teams.
“Where are the tents, where are food trucks?” Melek, 64, said.
Aysan Kurt, 27, who has also lost his home, said: “We haven’t seen any food distribution here, unlike previous disasters in our country. We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold.”
He added: “We don’t have a tent, we don’t have a heating stove, we don’t have anything. Our children are in bad shape. We are all getting wet under the rain and our kids are out in the cold.
“We did not die from hunger or the earthquake, but we will die freezing from the cold.”
‘They don’t have enough equipment’
Youssef, 25, is waiting in the hard-hit Syrian city of Aleppo for news of his family. He managed to reach one of his trapped relatives by phone, and could hear several voices despite a bad line.
Members of the Algerian rescue team and Syrian army soldiers search for survivors in Aleppo, Syria
Since then, he has been standing in near-freezing weather by the rubble, unable to get through again.
“I have been waiting for news of my father, my mother, my brother, my sister and her son. Nothing is known about them so far,” he said.
“I talked to them and heard their voices, but unfortunately, as you can see here, they’re very slow at work and they don’t
have enough equipment,” he said of rescue efforts.
An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault – which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes – as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor” in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War.
Ukraine war latest: Russia accuses Kyiv of ‘terrorist attack’
The Ukrainian operation – which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks – also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed the battlefield, enabling Ukraine to seriously hurt its far more powerful opponent.
Moscow will have to retaliate, with speculation already appearing online about whether President Putin will again threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
“We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even harsher,” military blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on his Telegram channel.
Codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, the mission on Sunday was the culmination of one and a half years of planning, according to a security source.
In that time, Ukraine’s secret service smuggled first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia, sources with knowledge of the operation said.
Flat-pack, garden-office style sheds were also secretly transported into the country.
The drones were hidden in truck containers. Pic: SBU Security Service
The oblong sheds were then built and drones were hidden inside, before the containers were put on the back of trucks and driven to within range of their respective targets.
At a chosen time, doors on the roofs of the huts were opened remotely and the drones were flown out. Each was armed with a bomb that was flown into the airfields, with videos released by the security service that purportedly showed them blasting into Russian aircraft.
These drones were used to destroy Russian bomber aircraft. Pic: SBU Security Service
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Among the targets were Tu-95 and Tu-22 bomber aircraft that can launch cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian side. An A-50 airborne early warning aircraft was also allegedly hit. This is a valuable platform that is used to command and control operations.
The use of such simple technology to destroy multi-million-pound aircraft will be watched with concern by governments around the world.
Suddenly, every single military base, airfield and warship will appear that little bit more vulnerable if any truck nearby could be loaded with killer drones.
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The most immediate focus, though, will be on how Mr Putin responds.
Previous attacks by Ukraine inside Russia have triggered retaliatory strikes and increasingly threatening rhetoric from the Kremlin.
But this latest operation is one of the biggest and most significant, and comes on the eve of a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that are meant to take place in Turkey. It is not clear if that will still happen.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the two sides to make peace but Russia has only escalated its war.
Ukraine clearly felt it had nothing to lose but to also go on the attack.
Two people are dead and nearly 560 people were arrested after disorder broke out in France following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final, the French interior ministry has said.
The ministry added 192 people were injured and there were 692 fires, including 264 involving vehicles.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night’s final in Munich, the national police service said.
The second person killed was a man who was hit by a car while riding a scooter during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez has said the man was in his 20s and although the incident is still being investigated, it appears his death was linked to the disorder.
Meanwhile, French authorities have reported that a police officer is in a coma following the clashes.
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The officer had been hit by a firecracker that emerged from a crowd of supporters in Coutances in the Manche department of northwestern France, according to reports in the country.
Initial investigations reportedly suggest the incident was accidental and the police officer was not deliberately targeted.
The perpetrator has not been identified.
A man walks past teargas during incidents after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. Pic: AP
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The interior ministry earlier said 22 security forces workers were injured during the chaos – including 18 who were injured in Paris, along with seven firefighters.
In a news conference today, Mr Nuñez said only nine of the force’s officers had been injured in the French capital.
He added that fireworks were directed at police and firefighters were attacked while responding to car fires.
There were 559 arrests across the country during the disorder, including 491 in Paris. Of those detained across the country, 320 were taken into police custody – with 254 in the French capital.
Mr Nuñez said although most people wanted to celebrate PSG’s win, some only wanted to get involved in fights with police.
He also said the force is only at “half-time” in its response because the PSG team will be celebrating their Champions League victory on the Champs Élysées later today.
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Mr Nuñez said that the police presence and military presence in Paris will be increased on the ground for the parade.
It comes after flares and fireworks were set off in the French capital after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest ever victory in a Champions League final.
Around 5,400 police were deployed across Paris after the game, with officers using tear gas and pepper spray on the Champs Élysées.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At the top of the Champs Élysées, a water cannon was used to protect the Place de l’Etoile, near the landmark Arc de Triomphe.
Police said a large crowd not watching the match tried to push through a barrier to make contact with officers.
Some 131 arrests were made, including 30 who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs Élysées.
Police have said a total of four shops, including a car dealership and a barbers, were targeted during the disorder in Paris.
Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police said.
PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé appealed for calm in a post-match interview with Canal+, saying: “Let’s celebrate this but not tear everything up in Paris.”
Pics: AP
After the final played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, thousands of supporters also tried to rush the field.
Police lined up in front of the PSG end of the stadium at the final whistle, but struggled to contain the fans for several minutes when they came down from the stands following the trophy presentation.
Pics: AP
Désiré Doué, the 19-year-old who scored two goals and assisted one in the final, said after the game: “I don’t have words. But what I can say is, ‘Thank you Paris,’ we did it.”
Despite being a supporter of PSG’s rivals Olympique de Marseille, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on social media: “A glorious day for PSG!
“Bravo, we are all proud. Paris, the capital of Europe this evening.”
Mr Macron’s office said the president would receive the players at the Elysee Palace on Sunday.
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Three patients have been killed and dozens of other people were reportedly injured after a fire at a hospital in Germany.
The blaze broke out in a room in the geriatric ward of the Marienkrankenhaus early on Sunday.
It started on the ground floor and spread to the level above, with smoke affecting much of the four-storey building in the city of Hamburg.
Firefighters were alerted soon after midnight.
They said they found several patients calling for help from windows, and some people were rescued using ladders.
Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Three adults died and more than 30 were injured in the fire, the German news agency dpa said.
One of the injured is in a life-threatening condition, while 18 have serious injuries and 15 have minor injuries, the agency added.
Read more from Sky News:
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Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Part of the building had to be evacuated, though the wounded were mostly treated at the hospital.
Two injured people were taken to other nearby clinics.
The blaze was put out within about 20 minutes. The cause is not yet known.
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