disasters
People in the earthquake area commemorate the dead
A young woman sits weeping at the grave of her sisters who died in the earthquake in February. photo
© Boris Roessler/dpa
End of Ramadan: In Turkey, survivors of the earthquake disaster mourned the death of their relatives on Sunday.
At the end of Ramadan, many people in Turkey commemorated the victims of the February earthquake. In a cemetery near the city of Kahramanmaras, which was badly hit by the earthquake, people planted flowers on the graves of their relatives and decorated children’s graves with stuffed animals and sweets. A cemetery worker said on Sunday that 6,000 graves have had to be dug here alone since the earthquake on February 6th.
A woman tearfully said she came to commemorate her killed relatives. Pointing to the graves in front of her, she explained that two of her sisters were buried here, their parents a few yards away. A few steps away, a woman was praying at the grave of her daughter and ten-year-old granddaughter who had been killed in the quake.
Turkish flags waved on many of the temporary resting places framed by wooden slats. Verses from the Koran were read out over loudspeakers, and people kept sobbing on their knees in front of the graves.
In Turkey, the end of Ramadan coincides with a national holiday, the Children’s Festival.
On February 6, two powerful earthquakes shook southeast Turkey and northern Syria. According to official figures, at least 57,000 people lost their lives.