More than 46,000 people were killed in Turkey and Syria by the earthquake. (file)
turkey:
As his bulldozer claws at the rubble of buildings destroyed by this month’s earthquake, operator Akin Bojkert consoles himself that finding the bodies gives family members a chance to have a funeral for loved ones and a grave where they can can mourn.
“Would you pray to find a dead body?” He asked. “We … do it to give the body to the family.”
Bozkurt, 42, traveled to Kahramanmaras, the southernmost Turkish city closest to the epicenter of the devastating quake 12 days ago, from his home town of Kayseri, 250 km (155 miles) north, to help with the demolition of destroyed buildings.
Bojcrut said, “You recover a body from tons of rubble. Families are waiting with hope…they want a burial ceremony. They want a grave.”
According to Islamic tradition, the dead should be buried as soon as possible.
In one city cemetery, thousands of new graves outnumbered those from before the earthquake, underscoring the scale of the devastation.
The earthquake killed more than 46,000 people in Turkey and Syria and the death toll is expected to rise even higher.
Bozkurt said that while he was working with his bulldozer, a father, warming himself over a fire by the ruins of his former home, asked him to find his daughter.
“She told us, ‘Please find a piece of her so I know where her grave is’. It’s really sad.”
“We are trying to find happiness from the saddest moment of his life.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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