Red balloons mark the places where children were killed in a devastating earthquake in Turkey

Dozens of red balloons stain the rubble of a destroyed building along a main road in quake-stricken southern Turkey.

They are a final tribute to the children killed in the earthquake that devastated Antakya, according to Ogun Sefer Okur, who is in charge of the memorial.

The effect is stunning, the bright balloons contrasting starkly with the dusty gray of rubble and twisted metal that once made up the nine-story building.

Okur, a father of two, said there was no political motive behind his work, instead emphasizing its emotional meaning (AFP: Samir Doumi)

Against a monochrome background, handfuls of possessions bear witness to the lives of the young people lost in the earthquake.

A purple toy decorated with cartoon images of Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse lies in limbo near a pink scooter and a fuchsia anorak decorated with love hearts.

“Three children died here. They were 18 months, four years and six years old,” Ogun Sefer Okur said.

Okur – who grows roses and is a photographer – volunteered as a rescuer in the days after the earthquake in his hometown of Adana, before heading to Antakya, 200 kilometers away.

Ogun Sever Okur walks among the rubble of a collapsed building in Antakya (AFP: Samir Doumi)

“I started from here and then moved to the back building,” he said. “This area hit me. I couldn’t sleep for several nights because we couldn’t rescue the children from here.”

Eight days after the earthquake, Okur began tying balloons to the rubble in the city of 400,000 people, now a ghost town disturbed only by diggers and trucks clearing the rubble.

More than 42,000 people died in the earthquake in Turkey, although Turkish officials have not yet said how many of these children.

As many as 1,000 balloons have been attached to buildings in Antakya. (Reuters: Nir Elias)

While the speed of the emergency response in Antakya was widely condemned, Okur, a father of two, said there was no political motive behind his action, instead emphasizing its emotional meaning.

Since 2020, he has been supporting underprivileged children through his association, providing youngsters with toys, food and – in some cases – prostheses or operations.

He said the balloons were “the last game (he could) give” to the young victims, with as many as 1,000 tied to five or six buildings in Antakya.

He said that red balloons usually “represent joy and love”.

However, in Antakya, after the earthquake: “This is the first time a balloon has cried.”

France Press agency

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