Elderly Couple Find Refuge in Mosque following Deadly Turkey Quake
For the past four days, 67-year-old Ayse Boncuk and her husband, Irfan Boncuk, who is 75, have been staying in a small annex next to Haci Mehmet Karatoyuk Mosque, which was also damaged by the quakes, in Hatay’s Iskenderun district.
The couple had to vacate their nearby home after back-to-back earthquakes struck 10 southern provinces of Turkey, including Hatay, leaving at least 17,674 people dead and 72,879 injured.
Their three-story home was damaged by the two quakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale which leveled hundreds of buildings across the coastal province.
Ever since they hastily left their home carrying nearly everything they owned, Ayse and Irfan have maintained the lavatory of the mosque complex for the use of search-and-rescue teams working nearby.
“My husband had already been working at the mosque before the earthquakes,” Ayse told Anadolu. “So it was the logical place to seek refuge.”
They said they are thankful to still be alive but must contend with nighttime temperatures in Hatay that frequently fall below zero.
“We couldn’t sleep because it was so cold and we didn’t have any heavy blankets,” Ayse said.
Home to approximately 251,000 people, Hatay’s Iskenderun district was one of the areas hardest hit by Monday’s devastating earthquakes.
Source: Anadolu Agency
