Earthquake survivor: Dead bodies remained in the rain for three days
Fatma Fincan, an earthquake survivor, told us that 10 bodies pulled from the rubble in Semsûr remained in the rain for three days, saying, “They deliberately left us to die.”
MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU
Semsûr (Adıyaman)- Time stopped in February for people in Semsûr, which was destroyed and turned into a ghost city by two major earthquakes centered in Maraş. While they still suffer from aftershocks, they struggle to survive in tents. All earthquake survivors say, “If they (search-rescue teams) had come on the first day (of the earthquakes), many people would be alive today.”
The end of many stories…
Fatma Fincan, an earthquake survivor in the city, is one of the thousands of people in the city. “They left us to die,” she said while talking about what happened after the earthquakes. On February 6, her son with autism asked them to leave their house before the earthquake. After they left the house, the earthquake occurred and their house collapsed. “A family and their four children died in the rubble. Their house was a three-story house, only one child was pulled from the rubble alive. 10 dead bodies were taken out of this building. No search and rescue team came so we pulled the dead bodies from the rubble. Whenever I remember what happened, I feel very bad. We were left alone for three days without food and water. The dead bodies remained in the rain for three days.”
‘We took dead bodies to the cemetery without washing them’
Underlining that they also stayed in the rain for three days because there was no tent, Fatma Fincan said, “After the dead bodies remained in the rain for three days, we used a blanket to take them to the cemetery. We buried them without washing them. No one came to help. If they (rescue teams) had come, they could have rescued the children. We were alone; no one came to help us. There is no word to explain what happened on those days. I will never forget the scream of people in the rubble. The state did not come to help us; it left us to die.”
‘They deliberately left us to die’
“They deliberately left us to die,” Fatma Fincan said, “We buried dead bodies with our own efforts. Adıyaman has been wiped off the map. We were left alone. If they (search and rescue teams) had not come late, many people would be alive today.”