Turkiye earthquake: Survivor who lost wife, sons bravely saves other victims

GAZIANTEP (Turkiye): A 52-year-old survivor of the Feb 6 earthquakes in Nurdagi, Turkiye, turned the pain of losing his wife and two sons in the tragedy into a formidable drive to save other victims of the disaster.

Keeping his composure and intent on making sure that others would not have to go through the awful grief of losing their loved ones, Bayram Icue and several other survivors managed to save about 20 people from the seven-story apartment complex that used to be his home situated just beside Nurdagi Stadium.

Telling his story to Bernama with the help of local translator Arif Ardag, Bayram said as he and his family rushed downstairs to save themselves, part of the building collapsed, killing his wife and two sons.

"After I managed to get out of the building, I found my wife and two sons did not make it, they went with the collapsed building.

"So, I made a decision to save other people, I don't want other people to experience a loss like mine," he said.

Bayram said that it was a difficult decision as in his heart he wanted to find his wife and sons.

"It's a dilemma, which one I should make, but I chose to help the living," he added.

Bayram said when the second earthquake occurred, the ground shook immensely causing floors to collapse on top of one another 'like a pancake' reducing it into a two-story building.

"Some of the victims I managed to save were badly hurt, their faces were swollen making them unrecognisable," he said, adding that there were 22 units in the building and his unit was on the top floor.

"There were nearly 90 people in the building that night, and only a few managed to escape. After almost 10 days I think only one people still missing.

"My wife and two kids have been found by the local rescuers and I buried them two days ago," he said.

-- BERNAMA