Two months after the Turkey-Syria earthquake, volunteer rescue workers are grieving for those they could not save

Volunteer rescue worker Byram Cheney still has nightmares about those he couldn’t save.

It’s been two months since Mr. Cheney – along with 50 fellow mountaineering enthusiasts from Aksehir, Turkey – volunteered to search for survivors after a series of deadly earthquakes devastated cities and villages across the country.

Four major earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks have struck along the Turkish-Syrian border beginning on February 6, killing an estimated 57,000 people.

He said, “I cannot forget the desperation of the people, and especially their screams—I will never forget their screams.”

“The fact that they lost their children and their parents,” he added, in a trailing, mournful voice.

Bayram Sheni and his fellow mountaineers formed a volunteer rescue team after the earthquake.

Mr. Sheeny described the earthquakes as a “terrible disaster”.

He and his friends rallied quickly to use their mountaineering skills and equipment to save as many lives as possible.

The group—which included teachers, doctors, and engineers—became known as the Aksehir Volunteer Rescue Team, or AKAK, in Turkish.

AKAK Rescue Team cleared a collapsed building in Antakya. (Supplied) “Please save my cat first”

In the city of Antakya, a subgroup of 10 men, led by Mr. Shini, has found a young man who will have a huge impact on them all.

Kerim Cetin, a 20-year-old medical student, was at home with his mother, sister and their cat Strawberry when their five-storey apartment building partially collapsed.

When the team found him, Mr. Genie said Karim’s body was under tremendous pressure with the weight of the upper decks pressing on his legs and lower body.

Strawberry was next to him.

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“He hasn’t shown his pain to anyone,” Mr. Seni said, but instead asked, “Please save my cat first.”

“The love and bond he had with his cat touched our hearts,” Mr. Sheeny said, describing the young man as kind, brave and selfless.

Once Strawberry was freed, Karim’s next worry was: “If you get me out of here, is the building going to collapse?”

Mr. Cheney said Kerem was more concerned with the safety of the rescue team and others who might be trapped in the building than with his own life and the immense pain he was feeling.

“You are not a superman,” said Mr. Cheney, “and we both laughed,” but added that he had in fact carried the weight of the building without once complaining.

“I told him:” We are together even if we die. But if we survive, we live together.”

The team receives heartbreaking news, saving AKAK risked their lives to save Kerem Cetin and many others.

In the seven hours it took the team to free Karim from the wreckage, they joked and laughed, swapped stories and talked about Karim’s future and the life he will lead as a doctor after he graduates.

He asked repeatedly about his sister, whom the team had already dug up, and about his mother, whose body was later found in the rubble.

As they worked, several aftershocks continued to shake the ground, causing Karim great pain and possibly more injuries, but his main concern remained the safety of the team, who crawled into the partially collapsed building to free him.

Bayram Seni believes that “life is precious”.

As they risked their lives to save his, a bond formed between them all, during what Mr. Cheney described as their mentally and physically toughest rescue, still haunts them.

“The whole team has nightmares about Karim,” said Jenny.

In the end they succeeded and Karim was taken to the hospital.

But a member of the team who was a doctor said his injuries were serious and they were very worried about him in the coming days.

Eight days later, Karim’s sister and cousin reached out with the news of his heartbreaking death.

Destroy the rescue team.

“This is the first time I’ve been so moved,” said Mr. Cheney.

“We feel the pain of people who have lost loved ones as much as we do.”

Through their efforts – rather than die alone and in pain under the rubble – Karim spent his last days surrounded by his loved ones.

The team remains in close contact with Karim’s sister, who is still recovering from her ordeal and loss.

Meanwhile, Strawberry is being looked after by family friends.

“It was a pleasure to touch every soul [that we freed] And that puts us at ease,” said Mr. Cheney, referring not only to the 15 people they saved but also the many animals they saved.

Even saving a bird, he said, brought them great happiness, “because every life is precious.”

Türkiye acts as “one heart” to rebuild

The people of Türkiye now face the daunting task of rebuilding.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has estimated the quake’s cost at $104 billion ($154 billion) – roughly 10 percent of the country’s projected gross domestic product for 2023.

Hundreds of thousands of buildings have been destroyed, with more remaining unsafe (Reuters: Suhaib Salem)

Hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed with many more left unsafe.

The United Nations estimates that more than 20 million people have been affected by the earthquake, with at least 1.5 million people being homeless in Turkey alone. At least 500,000 new homes will have to be built.

The survivors take shelter in tents, container homes, dormitories and even train cars.

But before rebuilding can begin, an estimated 116 to 210 million tons of rubble must be removed.

The United Nations estimates that more than 20 million people have been affected by the earthquake (Reuters: Khalil Ashawi)

Across the border in Syria, more than 7,000 people have been killed and an estimated 8.8 million people affected, according to UN figures.

The United Nations Development Program put recovery costs in Syria at $14.8 billion, saying the earthquake had exacerbated an already dire situation caused by the long war.

“Nine out of ten people in Syria today live below the poverty line,” said Achim Steiner of the United Nations Development Programme.

While Syria has received shipments of aircraft from more than a dozen countries, few are believed to have reached the hardest-hit opposition-held areas.

People queue for food being served amidst the ruins in Kahramanmaras, Turkey (Reuters: Eloisa Lopez)

Back in Türkiye, the city of Antakya is still in ruins. Everything was closed, including shops and schools, Mr. Jenny said, and most families had fled to other towns.

“In the daytime, many people search for their belongings among the rubble, but after dark, no one is left in the city because there is no electricity,” he said.

While the government provides the necessary assistance, volunteers across the country collect donations daily for those in need.

Mr. Shini’s team is still helping to collect and deliver supplies from food and clothing to cleaning and sanitation kits.

“All Turkish people collect donations,” said volunteer Ismahan Oğdu, who works alongside them.

She said even primary school students across the country were collecting money for earthquake victims.

“Türkiye is one heart.”

But it will be a long time before the country’s scars begin to heal.

“It pains us to realize how little our ambitions in life—what we have, what we try to be—when everything can slip away in an instant,” said Mr. Cheney.

“You can be a rich person, a successful person, a contented person and you will wake up with nothing left in your life.”

AKAK volunteers used their mountaineering skills and equipment to save as many lives as possible.

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