10 February 2023 , 11:19
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A man is grieving after learning that his mother and brother both died in the earthquake in Turkey - and their bodies were later found in each other's arms in the rubble of their home.
Kerem Aydin, 21, a delivery driver from Hackney, spoke to his mother over the phone the night before the earthquake that has crippled the area.
Large swathes of the city were destroyed, and Kerem's family, including mum Pinar San and brother Abuselam San, were in one of the worst-hit areas, Hatay.
Kerem saw pictures of the devastation and feared the worse, but soon he received a call from his uncle confirming the terrible news.
Kerem Aydin feared the worst when he learned about the earthquake (Kerem Aydin)
Sadly a family member called to confirm Kerem's worst fears (Kerem Aydin)Kerem said: "I heard the news two days ago. When there was the footage from the area, all the buildings just collapsed, from that we thought - but there's always hope you might get some news.
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"Phone lines were cut off, but we heard a few days ago from my uncle in Turkey, he drove down and there was just people on the floor screaming.
"I will say this - from what I've heard my country has done a lot of work to try and help people. Its inevitable people are going to die in a situation like this, but a lot of people tried to help my mother and my brother.
"When they were retrieved, they found my mother and brother hugging - that's how they found them, that's the only details we know.
"They were in the building where they lived. Most of the area is not very tall, maybe three or four floors. The area was one of the worst affected in Turkey.
An aerial view of collapsed buildings as search and rescue efforts continue after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)"I spoke to them the day before, the night it happened it was just after 4am, they were good - like I always see them, normal, everything was good."
Kerem is now raising money so that he can build a well in the memory of his mother and brother. If you would like to donate, please click here.
He continued: "I'm raising money for my mother because in my religion, we believe you can build stuff like wells so that they can benefit from the good deeds - so I want to do that for my mother and brother.
"Its going to benefit people around the world, I haven't picked a place yet but I'll find the most needy place in Syria, you can imagine the situation in Syria, I'll pick a place where people will benefit, where they don't have water.
"If we go above the limit of one, I'll pick another country where we can do it."
On GoFuneMe, Kerem wrote: "Asalamu Aleikum Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu, my mother and younger brother have both returned to Allah during the Earthquakes that took place in Turkey specifically in Hatay.
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Destroyed buildings are seen from above in Antakya, southeastern Turkey (Hussein Malla/AP/REX/Shutterstock)"I am making this fundraiser with hopes of building a borehole in her name. I haven't got much reach but my trust is in Allah and I trust that Allah will provide in ways that I can't even imagine.
"I am not the best when it comes to these situations as I have never experienced this sort of calamity before but I ask for the sake of Allah for you to donate whatever you are able to.
"May Allah reward you all and I ask Allah to forgive my mother's sins and grant her the highest rank in Jannah. Ameen."
British aid worker Atiqur Rahman from Stoke-On-Trent works for Global Relief Trust and described the scene unfolding in Turkey.
"It's Armageddon here," he said. "Now it's 64/65 hours since the earthquake, the chances of people coming out alive is very low.
"But you have these amazing cases where because the foundations have gone on top of one another, the buildings have collapsed layer by layer, people manage to get into gaps.
A rescuer searches for victims and survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Adiyaman (AFP via Getty Images)"There was some noise coming from this family under the rubble, and some relatives stood outside as they knew the family was there.
"When they were carried out they were conscious and moving, obviously traumatised, but physically they were unharmed. One of our guys carried them out and the girl was responding to him.
"We get overwhelmed as soon as there is one case of good news. One guy has done a 28-hour shift and he said, 'we have pulled out seven alive but 100 bodies', so with those kinds of odds everyone celebrates every person alive.
"Each case takes two to four, five hours, to get through to people."
Twin earthquakes — the first a magnitude 7.8 and the second a 7.5 — hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria, on Monday.
Tens of thousands of people are injured and missing and there are still daily tremors causing thousands of families' homes to crumble.
Rescuers have been clawing through rubble with their bare hands despite the sub-zero temperatures and snow storms the region is also battling.
People were plunged into homelessness and everyone has been scrambling to rescue people trapped under toppled buildings.
In response, charities have set up emergency funds and rescue teams have descended on the region.
To make matters worse, the region where the earthquakes struck is home to significant numbers of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people.
They have already had to flee their homes from nearly 12 years of brutal war.
President Erdogan of Turkey said that 13 million people had been affected in the country and he declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces.