Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Apr 22, 2026

Photos tied to tree of missing boys highlight painful search for quake victims

Photos tied to tree of missing boys highlight painful search for quake victims

No one knows what has become of the two boys whose photos are tied to a tree close to the block of flats where they lived in the earthquake-hit Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.
In one, a baby boy in an orange babygro smiles out from a turquoise armchair, in the other an older boy climbs into a swimming pool, looking proudly into the camera.

“Their parents are deceased,” said earthquake survivor Bayram Nacar, who stood waiting with other local men wearing masks as an excavator cleared a huge pile of shattered concrete and twisted metal rods behind the tree.

He said the bodies of the boys’ parents were still under the rubble. “The father was called Atilla Sariyildiz. His body is yet to be found. We are hoping to find the parents after the excavators remove the debris.”

There are 10 bodies under the rubble, he believes. He does not know if the boys are among them.

The combined death toll in Turkiye and Syria from last week’s earthquake has climbed to more than 41,000, with millions now in need of humanitarian aid after being left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures.

Drone footage of Kahramanmaras, close to the epicenter of the quake, shows the devastation it caused, leveling buildings and forcing families to seek shelter in tents erected in the city’s stadium.

In the emergency camp, children play between the tents dotted across the field and the running track and a huge line assembles for food.

“We are hoping to go back to our homes. It was a disastrous earthquake and people are in immense pain. Survivors are still scared but despite everything, we stand strong,” said Ali Cevik, a local man now living in a tent.

In another tent, 28-year-old Hatice Kavakdali clutched a grey teddy bear.

“I can’t put the experience we had into words. It was so terrifying and I am still feeling the pain of that,” she said. “I lost consciousness after the quake and I am still recovering. I couldn’t remember my family or how we got out of the house.”

Meanwhile, in a hospital in earthquake-hit northwest Syria, eight-year-old Hanaa keeps asking for news of her family, unaware she is the sole survivor among her immediate relatives.

Her father, mother and four-year-old sister were among the people killed in the quake.

After years of war and displacement in Syria, the disaster orphaned many children when their families were lost under rubble.

“She keeps asking for her father, her mother and her sister,” said Abdullah Sherif, Hanaa’s uncle, at Maarrat Misrine hospital in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

“We have not dared to tell her the truth yet.”

Hanaa was trapped for 33 hours under the rubble of her collapsed building in the border town of Harim, before she was pulled out and rushed to the hospital about 25 km away.

When she got there, she was “in a critical condition,” her doctor Bassel Staif said. “She suffered severe dehydration, having been under the rubble without food or water and in the cold weather.”

Hanaa’s condition has since stabilized, and she sometimes smiles despite the injuries on her face.

But her left arm, which is in a cast, was crushed during the quake, Staif said, noting that his team is doing its best to save it.

“She has now left the intensive care unit, her condition is stable. But she is at risk of having an arm amputated.”

In the hospital room packed with Valentine’s Day balloons, Hanaa’s uncle remains by her side. But he fears her condition will only worsen when she learns of her family’s fate.

The little girl has only her grandparents and uncles to raise her in this rebel-held region, home to some 4 million people, many of them displaced from other parts of war-torn Syria.

Last week’s quake has affected more than 7 million children, including 2.5 million in Syria alone, according to James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

He says the disaster has piled more misery on Syrian children who have only witnessed tragedy in their lives because of the war that broke out more than a decade ago.

Every child under the age of 12 “has known nothing but conflict, violence or displacement,” said Elder. “Some children have been displaced six or seven times.

“For many of these children ... this is trauma on top of trauma.”

Samah Hadid of the Norwegian Refugee Council has also warned that children are at “grave psychological risk due to the scale of the shock.”

Three-year-old Arslan was the sole survivor from his family after their building in Harim was one of least 35 destroyed.

His uncle, Ezzat Hamdi, says rescuers kept digging for three days to find the bodies of Arslan’s father, mother and siblings.

“We found the father’s body hugging the boy,” said Hamdi, 30, adding that the mother’s body was found 2 meters away.

The little boy has since been kept in intensive care, with Hamdi watching over him.

“The child’s lower limbs were crushed” and he suffered internal damage, said doctor Omar Al-Ali of the children’s hospital in Sarmada.

For Obada Zikra, a member of the White Helmets rescue group that operates in Syria’s rebel-held areas, the first hours of the quake disaster were the most agonizing.

“We could only hear the screams and moans of children,” he said, noting the brief bursts of joy whenever rescuers found a child alive. “We have pulled out many children who are still alive, but also dead ones,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
News Roundup
Strategic Saudi-Bahrain Causeway Closed Amid Security Concerns as Trump Deadline Approaches
Saudi Arabia Keeps Red Sea Oil Exports Flowing Despite Regional Tensions
Pipeline Attack Cuts Significant Share of Saudi Arabia’s Oil Export Capacity
Saudi Business Leader Abudawood Appointed Chairman of Merit Incentives Group
TotalEnergies Confirms Damage at Saudi Refinery Following Security Incident
Saudi Arabia Launches Early Construction Phase for King Salman Stadium Project
Saudi Shift Away from Longstanding Dollar Oil Framework Gains Attention Amid Iran Conflict
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia Resolve Long-Running Transit Visa Dispute
Saudi Oil Capacity and Pipeline Flows Reduced as Supply Risks Intensify
TotalEnergies Reports Damage to Saudi SATORP Refinery Following Security Incidents
Gulf States Assess Prospects of U.S.-Iran Truce as Regional Stability Efforts Intensify
South Korea Resumes Honey Exports to Saudi Arabia Following Sanitary Approval
Saudi Arabia Carries Out Sentences in Eastern Province Following Security Convictions
Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund Backs King Street’s Regional Credit Strategy
Saudi Arabia Secures World Cup Return as Egypt Celebrates Landmark Qualification
Iran and Saudi Arabia Intensify Diplomatic Engagement Amid Regional Tensions
Russia and Saudi Arabia Open Visa-Free Travel Corridor for Citizens
Saudi Oil Output Capacity Reduced by 600,000 Barrels Per Day Amid Regional Conflict
Saudi Arabia Suspends Operations at Select Energy Sites as Precautionary Measure
Saudi Arabia Halts Operations at Multiple Energy Facilities Amid Heightened Tensions
Global Markets Jolt as Iran Signals Ceasefire Breakdown and Rising Regional Tensions
King Street Aligns with Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund to Expand Alternative Investments in Middle East
Attack on Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Petrochemical Hub Raises Global Supply Concerns
Debate Emerges Over Saudi Strategic Decisions as Gulf Cooperation Council Dynamics Come Into Focus
Saudi Arabia Expands Full Workforce Localisation to 69 Professions in Major Labour Reform
Emerging Alliance of Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia Signals New Regional Power Dynamic Amid Iran Conflict
Iran Linked to Strikes Across Gulf States Following Refinery Attack Escalation
Saudi Arabia Voices Concern Over Fragile US–Iran Ceasefire Stability
Starmer Warns Sustained Effort Needed to Ensure US–Iran Ceasefire Holds
Saudi Arabia’s Key East-West Oil Pipeline Targeted Following Ceasefire Announcement
Iran Targets Saudi Arabia’s East-West Oil Pipeline in Escalating Regional Tensions
Trump Warns of Civilizational Stakes as Iran Halts Negotiations
Saudi Companies Expand Remote Work Measures Ahead of Iran-Related Security Concerns
Iran Warns of Strikes on Saudi Energy Infrastructure if US Targets Its Facilities
Iran Urges Civilians to Form Human Shields Around Nuclear Sites as Diplomatic Deadline Approaches
Saudi Arabia Raises Oil Prices to Record Premiums Amid Supply Pressures Linked to Iran Conflict
Key Saudi-Bahrain Causeway Closed Amid Heightened Security Concerns Linked to Iran
Formula One Calendar Gap Explained as Fans Await Next Grand Prix
Growing Strain on the Petrodollar System Comes Into Focus Amid Iran Conflict
Reported Strike on Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Complex Raises Global Energy Supply Concerns
FedEx Introduces New Digital Tool to Streamline Imports into Saudi Arabia
Iran Claims Strike on Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Petrochemical Complex Amid Rising Regional Tensions
Taiwan to Source Oil Shipments from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Ports
Saudi Arabia Evacuates Riyadh Financial District as Precaution Amid Regional Tensions
Saudi Arabia Balances Ambitious Economic Vision Amid Regional Tensions and Financial Pressures
Budget Saudi Arabia Reports Strong Full-Year 2025 Financial Performance
Saudi Arabia Expands Investment in Capcom With Stake Reaching Six Percent
Saudi Arabia Assesses Significant Economic Impact From Regional Conflict Involving Iran
US Beef Secures Expanded Market Access in Saudi Arabia
×