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IZMIR. Many have been made homeless in the wake of the earthquake that struck Turkey.
When another high-rise building, one hair from falling over, is now demolished, the uproar is great on the streets of Izmir.
– They just told me that my brother is there, says Aytekin Bildrici, 60, with tears in his eyes.
It is crowded with people behind the barrier tape that stretches over a large area along Alija Izet Begovic street in Izmir. In the spotlight: a leaning skyscraper that basically looks like it could topple if you blow it up.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
The apartment building that was supported cannot be saved, announces the rescue service. The pressure is too great.
Among the onlookers who huddle in a narrow side street to glimpse the building, to get answers to what is happening, something happens. An old man in the dense crowd is surrounded. It is held tightly by young and old. Although most of the face is covered with a mouth guard, the eyes say it all.
– My brother lives in that house. They have searched and searched, but have found no signs of life. I still had hope. But they just told me that my brother is there and that he is dead, says Aytekin Bildrici, 60, as tears flow.
Photo: Sophie Stigfur
Aytekin Bildrici has just been informed that his brother has died and that the house he lives in is going to be demolished: “I only met him five days ago. It’s a shock ”.
The roof of the ground floor collapsed during the earthquake last Friday. The woman who ran a grocery store on the ground floor is one of a total of 62 people who, according to the latest information, were found dead in Izmir.
Since then, the rescue service has supported the building with cranes in search of survivors. Several people have been rescued.
But after the dogs are dispatched for a final search, the rescue service finally announces that there are no signs of life left.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
Intensive rescue efforts are now underway around the one million-strong city of Izmir in various locations. Earthquakes are common, but there has been no damage of this magnitude in 52 years.
Strong feelings after the message.
The resistance of the cranes supporting the huge house is no longer enough. The building cannot be saved either.
Bildrici is not alone crying. A younger woman runs away, crying through the crowd. An elderly couple living in the house closes their eyes as they hug.
– I have no words at the moment, says the woman.
To some, it is now clear that a relative will not actually be able to be rescued in the same miraculous way from the landslides that were previously applauded in other collapsed skyscrapers around Izmir.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
Science teacher Gencay Gul is one of many who are faced with the question of how to carry out the demolition in the safest possible way.
“We will have to demolish more”
Others lose their homes with the message, and everything they own and have, after quickly leaving their homes when the ground began to shake.
Suddenly homeless, referred to friends and family, or tent camp. Something that will likely affect significantly more people in Izmir, according to Gencay Gul, one of several engineers on site who will help you with advice on how to deal with the complicated demolition job.
Run your hand over the row of skyscrapers that rise side by side along the wide street. Maybe eight houses, with at least the same number of floors per building, he says.
– I think we’ll have to destroy everyone. The house we are currently demolishing is urgent. But the others also have cracks and are strongly affected in the structure. Besides the fact that it is dangerous to leave them standing and risk them collapsing rather than breaking them under controlled ways, I also think few would dare to move in them again, says Gul.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
The drama surrounding the leaning house fills the streets with onlookers.
It is unknown how many were buried in the concrete.
In the building there are people who were at home at lunch last Friday when the earthquake destroyed everything. Now they are corpses, which will be cared for while the floor is raised.
Gencay Gul doesn’t know how many there are.
– No. Unfortunately, nobody knows.
A total of 21 buildings have been completely destroyed after the earthquake in the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Samos and the west coast of Turkey. A number that is therefore expected to grow, as well as the number of deaths.
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