Hope is dwindling for the 35 Turkish Cypriots under the rubble of the Isias hotel in Adiyaman who are yet to be recovered, north Cyprus ‘education minister’ Nazim Cavusoglu said on Thursday, the fourth day in which the secondary school group from Famagusta was trapped under the rubble.
In the afternoon, the body of another child, the fourth victim from the group had been pulled from the wreckage, according to reports in the north.
Turkish Cypriot authorities said that they had not established the child’s identity yet, so the name was not released.
Earlier, the body of a third victim from the wreckage of the hotel had been pulled from the rubble. The body was that of a year 8 boy, Doruk Akin, whose body was pulled out overnight on Thursday.
Cavusolgu said that it would take a few days to remove the wreckage.
“We want to take our students no matter what. Families are watching the work 24 hours a day since the beginning of the disaster,” he said.
Commenting on the tragedy, South Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades expressed his sincere condolences “over the death of our compatriots”.
So far, a total of 12 Turkish Cypriots have been reported dead.
In a phone call with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, Anastasiades said that he hoped there would be good news regarding the ongoing rescue search at the hotel, and he reiterated that the government is ready to help in any way possible.
The boy, Doruk Akin, was pulled from the rubble overnight, while the bodies of two teachers, Pamir Konuklu and Ibrahim Yakula, were pulled from the rubble earlier.
Several Turkish Cypriots have changed their profile pictures to black in light of the tragedy that is unfolding and that concerns a group of some 35 Turkish Cypriots that had been staying at the Isias hotel in Adiyaman for a volleyball competition.
The group was comprised of students from the Famagusta secondary school, which have been trapped under the rubble for almost four days.
According to reports in north Cyprus, the bodies of Atay and Fatma Akan were found during rescue operations in Hatay.
Meanwhile, according to south Cyprus foreign ministry Spokesman Demetris Demetriou a 14-year-old Turkish Cypriot girl, living with her family in the Republic said that she is safe after being rescued in Antakya.
According to Demetriou, the girl was with her grandmother and aunt, who were killed in the quake.
Demetriou said that all the appropriate measures are being taken by the ministry for her.
Another seven Turkish Cypriots were also reported dead from the devastating earthquakes in previous days.
Also on Thursday, Turkish Cypriot Ahmet Aksunlar started a crowdfunding campaign collecting donations for victims of the earthquake in both Turkey and Syria.
“We, as the Cypriot youth across the divide, are uniting to support this humanitarian crisis, and help the relief efforts in the region,” he wrote on the campaign website.
“We have selected two organisations to donate the funds, based on their trustworthiness and experience working in the specific locations for rescue, relief and material and medical aid.”
The donations will go to Turkey’s Ahbap, a natural disaster management group, and the White Helmets in Syria.
The campaign can be found at https://gogetfunding.com/cypriot-youth-earthquake-fundraiser/.
Following the discovery of the child’s body, north Cyprus said that it has set up psychological counselling teams for those affected by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, people will also be able to donate goods to earthquake victims in Cyprus until next Friday, as part of the EU Civil Defence effort under way.
Donations of goods will be made in all districts across Cyprus.
Municipalities in north Cyprus are also collecting items to send to victims of the earthquake in Turkey.
Speaking about the Adiyaman quake on Wednesday, which trapped the Turkish Cypriot students under the hotel, one of the survivors Berna Tavis said that the hotel fell like “a house of cards.”
Commenting on the phone in a television show, Tanis said that she was rescued alone with the help of her friends. She had seen the children and had been told they were volleyball players, she added.
