Rescuers find bodies of 3 of high school volleyball team of 39 in hotel that collapsed in earthquake
ADIYAMAN, TURKEY: Rescuers have found the bodies of three members of a group of 39 of a high school volleyball team that included boys and girls, in the debris of a hotel that collapsed due to the calamitous earthquake that left a trail of destruction in its wake on Wednesday, February 8. The team were recently reported missing and feared dead after they traveled from Turkish-occupied Cyprus to southern Turkey just days before the deadly earthquake struck.
The bodies of two teachers and an eighth-grade student were found, per BBC. The children and their teachers were staying in the Isias hotel in the center of Adiyaman when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck and claimed more than 15,000 lives thus far. The majority of the city center was destroyed and several multi-story buildings collapsed, trapping thousands of residents in the rubble. Loved ones of the missing volleyball team bemoaned they had not had any contact with the group since disaster struck on Monday, February 6.
ALSO READ
The group hails from the coastal town of Famagusta, located in the northern part of Cyprus which was seized by Turkish forces in 1974, per the Daily Mail. The groups from the Namik Kemal High School and the Maarif Turkish College in Famagusta were among those missing. Authorities believed that four people of the group survived by fleeing when the building fell. They were notably overwhelmed by the unprecedented destruction as rescue teams traveled from Famagusta to assist in the search. A week-long mourning period was announced Monday evening over the earthquake that left thousands dead in Turkey and Syria.
An educational official said that they would not go anywhere till all the students were found. A12-year-old girl's aunt, per BBC, reportedly said that she was staying with the child. However, Nehir, the girl, went to the hotel to meet her friends on the day calamity struck. She is the youngest in the girls' team and was among the other missing children. A teacher, who managed to survive, said that none of them had slept since the tremors began.
A civil defense team has flown from the north to Adiyaman along with some relatives of those missing. The volleyball team from north Famagusta had reportedly flown in for a championship. The hotel they were staying at was reduced to rubble. A mother who flew to Adiyaman was quoted by Cyprus Mail as saying, "There is no news of our children, whoever we asked told us that no children came out of there. The eight-story hotel has completely collapsed."
That said, hopes of rescuing survivors trapped in the rubble are fading as the death toll has already crossed 15,000. Rescue teams, stretched beyond capacity, are toiling day and night in Turkey and Syria to find as many survivors as possible in the aftermath of the deadliest earthquake in over a decade. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province amid calls for the government to send more help. More than 3,300 people died in the disaster zone and entire neighborhoods were razed to the ground. Residents criticized the government's response, saying rescue teams were slow to respond.
Erdogan admitted there were "shortcomings" in the response to the natural disaster on Monday, but noted the freezing temperatures had been a major hurdle in the efforts. The earthquake also ravaged the runway at Hatay's airport, further delaying the response. "It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster," Erdogan, who faces re-election in May, reportedly explained, adding, "We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for." Nonetheless, he vowed to have all debris removed and homes rebuilt within a year, especially in the 10 provinces most affected by the calamity.