A Filipina who was believed to have perished in the recent earthquake that struck Turkey’s Hatay province was found alive, according to a Filipino community leader in Ankara.
Cherry Santos, the president of the Filipino community in the Turkish capital, confirmed that the woman had been inside a building in Hatay when the 7.7-magnitude quake hit and reduced structures to rubble in ten provinces. Santos said that the Filipina was with three other Filipinos, whose current whereabouts are unknown.
“Isang kababayan po ang na-recover na napabalita po noong una, kinonfirm po noong amo na patay na pero na-recover siya buhay po,” said Santos in a DZMM interview.
The Philippine Embassy in Ankara has deployed a team to the cities of Adana and İskenderun to provide all possible aid to affected Filipinos, including food, water, blankets, and cash. The embassy has received a “steady stream of confirmed and unconfirmed” reports of affected nationals and is taking swift action to address their needs. The embassy has already evacuated four Filipinos to a safer location in Mersin and is encouraging distressed nationals to contact its hotline via telephone, WhatsApp, email, or Facebook.
The earthquake impacted more than 13 million people in Turkey and Syria, with a significant number of individuals still trapped under the rubble. The death toll has already exceeded 11,000 according to the United Nations, with urban search and rescue teams from Turkey and 19 other countries being mobilized to aid in the response efforts. The Philippine humanitarian contingent, consisting of 85 personnel from various agencies, such as the Office of Civil Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Department of Health, has also departed for Turkey to assist in the relief efforts.
