Ferrying bodies to graveyards for more than a decade, the sheer scale of the devastation and trauma is too much for one to handle, says hearse driver Fatih Baskurt who was one of the first to arrive to the earthquake-hit Antakya province.
The central and most populous district of Hatay, Antakya, is one of the worst affected areas in the twin temblors, which have killed over 50,000 people in Türkiye and Syria.
The historical city now resembles a bombed-out warzone, with gaping craters and mounds of debris in place of the residential highrises that once dotted the city.
Baskurt leads a team of drivers in charge of six ambulances that have transported around 400 bodies, he says.
He admits to feeling a sense of humility whenever he reaches a designated spot to pick up yet another body as family members raise their hands to the sky and someone says “someone is here to take our dead.”
The bodies are handed over to the relatives only after police take photographs and autopsies are completed. The prosecutor’s office is maintaining a record of fingerprints and DNA samples.
More than 4,000 people have been buried in Narlica, according to Denizli province authorities, which are supervising the funerals and post-burial formalities.
The central and most populous district of Hatay, Antakya, is one of the worst affected areas in the twin temblors, which have killed over 50,000 people in Türkiye and Syria.
The historical city now resembles a bombed-out warzone, with gaping craters and mounds of debris in place of the residential highrises that once dotted the city.
Baskurt leads a team of drivers in charge of six ambulances that have transported around 400 bodies, he says.
He admits to feeling a sense of humility whenever he reaches a designated spot to pick up yet another body as family members raise their hands to the sky and someone says “someone is here to take our dead.”
The bodies are handed over to the relatives only after police take photographs and autopsies are completed. The prosecutor’s office is maintaining a record of fingerprints and DNA samples.
More than 4,000 people have been buried in Narlica, according to Denizli province authorities, which are supervising the funerals and post-burial formalities.
Ferrying bodies to graveyards for more than a decade, the sheer scale of the devastation and trauma is too much for one to handle, says hearse driver Fatih Baskurt who was one of the first to arrive to the earthquake-hit Antakya province.
The central and most populous district of Hatay, Antakya, is one of the worst affected areas in the twin temblors, which have killed over 50,000 people in Türkiye and Syria.
The historical city now resembles a bombed-out warzone, with gaping craters and mounds of debris in place of the residential highrises that once dotted the city.
Baskurt leads a team of drivers in charge of six ambulances that have transported around 400 bodies, he says.
He admits to feeling a sense of humility whenever he reaches a designated spot to pick up yet another body as family members raise their hands to the sky and someone says “someone is here to take our dead.”
The bodies are handed over to the relatives only after police take photographs and autopsies are completed. The prosecutor’s office is maintaining a record of fingerprints and DNA samples.
More than 4,000 people have been buried in Narlica, according to Denizli province authorities, which are supervising the funerals and post-burial formalities.
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