In the aftermath of the Feb. 6 catastrophic earthquakes, rescue workers in the temporary tent city set up in Hatay's Kırıkhan provide uninterrupted 24-hour service with the coordination of the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Wednesday.
Some 725 people affected by the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye earlier this month continue their lives in 127 tents in Kırıkhan City Stadium set up by the Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports and Beykoz Municipality with AFAD's coordination.
Institutions and organizations cater to the basic needs of the tent city residents such as food, clothing, salon and laundry, while the gendarmerie teams from the northern province of Zonguldak provide the security.
The staff, who remain on their feet all day, take special care of the children in order to mitigate the negative impact of the recent devastating earthquakes.
Fatih Eren, the coordinator of the tent city, told AA that despite experiencing the earthquake, he has put aside all his pain and apprehensions to help other people.
Explaining that their priority was to gather the victims in the safe zone as soon as possible, Eren said that the soldiers and aid had already started to arrive.
''We immediately established a tent city after we received the aid. We quickly set up the tents with our emergency and district governor, and on the third day, people started living in the tent city," he explained.
Noting that there are three hospitals in the tent city, Eren also said that they distributed three hot meals a day for the victims.
"In order to meet all kinds of needs, our staff constantly visits the tents to follow up on what they lack, and especially to work on the treatment of the injured rescued from the rubble,'' Eren maintained, adding that the victims are happy now, but it is a "bitter-sweet happiness.''
Mehmet Erkoç, one of the victims hosted in the tent city, said that he had taken his family out of the house during the earthquake.
Stating that they experienced a very severe jolt during the earthquake and had difficulty standing in the corridor, Erkoç said that as they went outside, it was rubble everywhere. "God bless everyone who helped us here. They rush to do everything from A to Z for us in the tents, asking us every day if we need anything,'' Erkoç praised the rescue workers.
Likewise, another survivor named Hatice Oral, who endured the earthquake with her 1-week-old baby, shared that they were able to leave their homes after the tremors and thanked everyone who supported them during the difficult times.
Meanwhile, middle school student Ezgi Buğlem Kök explained that her lovely school was damaged in the earthquake. "The only thing left from school is my uniform. I don't wear anything else. All my books are left at home. Everything in our house is gone. We stay in tents. Thanks to everyone who helped us.''
The Interior Ministry and AFAD announced on Tuesday that they completed the installation of 300,809 tents in the provinces affected by the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş.
According to the statement issued by AFAD, the shipment of tents to the region, which started from the first moment in order to meet the temporary shelter needs of earthquake victims, is in progress with no interruption.
AFAD, which has created tent city areas at 270 locations in the earthquake-affected provinces, also meets individual tent demands.
In a bid to provide shelter to the victims, 69,766 tents were set up in the worst affected provinces of Hatay, and 66,685 in Kahramanmaraş.
At the same time, 49,670 tents were setup in Gaziantep, 45,852 in Adıyaman, 25,380 in Malatya, 17,515 in Adana, 8,838 in Şanlıurfa, 7,170 in Osmaniye, 6,328 in Diyarbakir and 3,605 in Kilis.
