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'Please find a piece of her': Prayers to find bodies under quake debris

Bulldozers and backhoes continue to search for bodies in southern Türkiye as families yearn for dignified funeral of their loved ones amid mounting death toll from last week’s twin earthquakes.

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More than 46,000 people in Türkiye and Syria were killed by the earthquakes and the toll is expected to climb even higher.

As his bulldozer claws at the rubble of buildings destroyed by this month's earthquake in Türkiye, operator Akin Bozkurt consoles himself that by finding bodies he gives family members the chance to have a funeral for loved ones and a grave where they can mourn.

"Would you pray to find a dead body?" he asked. "We do...to deliver the body to the family."

Bozkurt, 42, travelled to Kahramanmaras, the southern Turkish city closest to the epicentre of the devastating quake 12 days ago from his home town of Kayseri, 250 km north, to help with the demolition of destroyed buildings.

"You recover a body from under tonnes of rubble. Families are waiting with hope...they want to have a burial ceremony. They want a grave," Bozkrut said.

According to Islamic tradition, the dead should be buried as quickly as possible.

At a graveyard in the city, the thousands of new graves vastly outnumbered those which predated the earthquake, underlining the scale of the catastrophe.

Tents had been erected to perform Islamic burial rituals, and to wrap the bodies in a shroud. Empty coffins, sent from all over Türkiye, were piled high.

More than 46,000 people in Türkiye and Syria were killed by the earthquakes and the toll is expected to climb even higher.

Reuters

We are trying to find happiness from the saddest moment in their lives," says Akin Bozkurt, who operates a bulldozer at the site of collapsed buildings.

'Fathers should not bury their children'

Bozkurt said that while he was at work with his bulldozer a father, warming himself at a fire by the ruins of his former home, asked him to find his daughter.

"He told us, 'please find a piece of her so I would know where her grave is'. This is really tragic."

Bozkurt said when he and his colleagues look for bodies under the rubble "we get excited."

"Would you pray to find a dead body? We do. Why? Just to deliver the body to the family. We are trying to find happiness from the saddest moment in their lives."

Bozkurt said: "Fathers should not bury their children. Children can live without their fathers despite under tough conditions but it's more difficult for fathers and mothers to bury their children."

SOURCE: Reuters