While the toll of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday February 6 continues to grow, many survivors want to leave the disaster areas. Thousands of people seek refuge elsewhere in the country. And the airlines have set up an airlift to allow them to leave. Report at Adana airport.
With our special correspondents in Turkey, Jad El Khoury And Guilhem Delteil
The queue starts right outside the airport. But the crowd is even bigger in the small departures hall.
This Friday, February 10, a hundred flights were planned from Adana, enough to evacuate nearly 10,000 people. It is no longer a question of regular flights, but of an evacuation operation.
Bilgin Hergüner works at the airport information desk. ” We do not sell tickets, they are free, he explains. Everything is organized at the time, according to the request of the survivors. We canceled tickets for travelers who were not in emergency situations. »
The urgency for Gülistan Tektas is to allow his children to recover from this trauma. For her, it will be in Ankara, the capital, where she has family. ” We will be back, this is our home! But only when we are psychologically stable. This trip is for my children. They can’t sleep at night anymore “, she confides.
Others see their departure as more definitive. Ali Kara, a native of the city of Antioch devastated by the earthquake, projects himself into a new life: ” It seems impossible to return to Antioch. Many houses have been destroyed and others are badly damaged. I’m going to see which city to settle in. For example, Mersin is closer to Antioch. Maybe I can rent something there. Otherwise, in Istanbul. »
Ali Kara is looking for stability and security. This newlywed is expecting a baby in June.
► To read also: Earthquakes in Syria: President Assad shows up at the bedside of the victims in Aleppo