Turkey earthquake: Star reporter's heartache for family and friends as 'neighbours lost 30 relatives'
Star reporter Lauren Hill who has family and friends living in Turkey tells of her heartbreak after seeing the destruction caused by the Kahramanmaras earthquake.
My grandparents replied to my text, what relief I felt when they did. I'm one of the lucky few.
They live in a flat in Anamur, southern Turkey, on the top floor of a three-storey building.
The bed my grandmother was sleeping on shook her awake at four o'clock in the morning, even though she lives 200 miles away from where the earthquake hit. She went to the balcony to find my grandfather, who had woken not long before her.
He was smoking and drinking a cup of coffee. He said "what else can I do?".
Most people live in flats there. My grandad actually built this one himself with the help of some friends. You can tell it was a DIY job from the stairs. The first step will be fine, and the second will be twice the height. They are hard workers, Turkish people. They are some of the most caring, honest, friendly people I've ever met. The kind that spend hours picking fruit from their garden to give it to a friend.
Our neighbours, Elif and Mehmet, lost 30 of their relatives – their son Nuri would have been one of them.
He went to visit his auntie and uncle in Gaziantep with his wife and children. Not long after they arrived, his father Mehmet had a fatal heart attack. Nuri and his wife and children rushed back to Anamur to be with him and Elif. That same night, his auntie's house in Gaziantep collapsed, killing everyone inside – his auntie, uncle and cousins. Nuri's family had been there just hours before. Such tragedy is incomprehensible.
Another of our friends, Fatma, lives on the 10th storey of an apartment block in Adana with her children and husband.
Their building was swaying from side to side, their furniture sliding across the floor. They had to get to a big, metal exit door to hold it open, or they would have become trapped.
It was an almost impossible task – Fatma said it was like climbing a steep hill and immediately sliding down the other side. When the swaying ceased for a very brief moment the father ran to the door. They all escaped with minor injuries, but the building was badly cracked and too dangerous for them to return.
Such a beautiful country has been left in ruins, and will be for a long time. Residents, especially in smaller towns, face the punishing challenge to rebuild what can be replaced, and live with the pain of losing what was irreplaceable.
More than 21,000 people have died in the Kahramanmaras earthquake, and many are still missing. Residents and communities are joining together to search each heap of rubble, which once stood as family homes.
Lying awake, I feel guilty. I have such privilege here, that I've never even worried about an earthquake, or that I'll be a victim to such a ruthless disaster. Small towns will struggle for the resources and money that they desperately need to even begin to recover.
Such sheer loss is unimaginable for me sitting here in the UK. My heart breaks for every single person in Turkey and Syria.
