Thousands of infants found abandoned in the aftermath of the earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria have been transferred to Ankara in safety.
The plane of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was utilized to transport 16 infants from Kahramanmaras to the Turkish capital following Monday’s 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes.
The plane has been placed on standby for earthquake-related missions, such as transporting medical teams and aid to affected regions.
It is also used to transfer severely injured patients to Ankara for medical care.
All sixteen infants on board the airplane were discovered alone in seismic zones. They were gathered by foster mothers from the plane that landed at Esenboga Airport on behalf of the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
They were then transported to Etlik City Hospital.
Images of infants in the arms of rescuers on board the plane, covered in blankets during a cold spell in the country, are heartwarming.
The images depict individuals gathered together on the flight while carrying infants, many of whom are sleeping, to safety.
The infants, who are presumed to be unhurt, will now be placed in the care of the Ministry of Family and Social Services-affiliated children’s organization.
Due to the fact that two of the infants were recovered from debris generated by the earthquake, their identities remain unknown.
The remaining 14 were being treated in hospitals in Kahramanmaras at the time of the earthquake, but authorities have not yet been able to contact their relatives.
Wednesday, Emine Erdogan, the wife of the Turkish president, visited the newborns at Etlik City Hospital.
Yesterday, official data revealed that at least 3,500 people perished in the two earthquakes.
The quakes were felt throughout the Middle East, with Turkey and its war-torn southern neighbor Syria being the hardest hit.
Thousands of individuals are known to have been slaughtered in both countries. Following the earthquakes, entire apartment buildings in Turkey collapsed within seconds, trapping families inside and killing thousands.
In the past twenty-four hours, the United States Geological Survey has reported more than sixty earthquakes and aftershocks in the region.
Countries from all around the world have offered assistance, with rescue professionals from Europe, Asia, and the Americas flying in to assist the emergency services.
The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has declared seven days of national mourning, while in Israel and Bosnia, buildings have been illuminated in honour of the deceased.
The initial 7.8-magnitude nighttime earthquake, followed hours later by a slightly lesser one, obliterated entire portions of major Turkish cities in an area populated by millions of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and other crises.
The later 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck at 1:24 p.m. (10:24 GMT) two and a half miles southeast of the town of Ekinozu and around 60 miles north of the initial earthquake that wreaked havoc in Turkey and Syria.
The US Geological Survey predicted that the earthquakes might cause 10,000 fatalities.
Turkey is located in one of the most active earthquake zones in the world, on a fault line.
In 1999, the Turkish province of Duzce was struck by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, the worst to strike Turkey in decades.
This earthquake claimed the lives of more than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.
Long have experts forewarned that a big earthquake may ruin Istanbul, a city that has allowed enormous construction without safety protections.
In January 2020, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Elazig, killing more than 40 people.
And in October of that year, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Aegean coast of Turkey, killing 114 and injuring over 1,000.
In 1939, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, causing 33,000 deaths in the eastern region of Erzincan.
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