Buried under rubble for 3 days after Turkey earthquake, Turkish teen, 15, now in S'pore with family

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Samuel Devaraj

SINGAPORE - At about 4.15am on Feb 6, 2023, Mustafa Akpinar was trapped under the rubble of what was once a 13-storey building.

The concrete from the structure that was once the teenager's home, in the city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey, had entombed him, his two sisters and mother, after two devastating earthquakes hit the country.

It was winter, and temperatures were as low as 2 deg C.

The family did not know that dozens of their neighbours had been killed as they slept.

After three days, without food and water, Mustafa and his family were rescued.

The earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.6 ravaged Turkey and neighbouring Syria, and affected 14 million people.

More than 53,000 people died and around 680,000 homes were destroyed in Turkey, leaving millions homeless. Nearly 6,000 died in Syria, although the death tolls for both countries are believed to be much higher.

Exactly a year on, Mustafa spoke to The Straits Times while sitting at The Mediterranean Deli Turk restaurant in Far East Plaza in Orchard Road. The restaurant belongs to his uncle Ahmet Akpinar, 43, who is also its executive chef.

In March 2023, ST had reported how Mr Ahmet, a Singapore permanent resident, had lost more than 120 of his relatives in the natural disaster.

Following the earthquakes, Mr Ahmet had encouraged Mustafa and his two sisters to come to Singapore.

The children's father - Mr Ahmet's brother - is separated from their mother and has been living in Singapore for five years on an S Pass.

The three siblings arrived here in October 2023 and are on dependent passes.

Mustafa does not speak English. But as he sat next to his uncle, who acted as translator, the weight of the disaster on his young shoulders spoke volumes.

He recalled: "It was very cold. We were not sure if we would survive, because for three days we did not eat or drink, and we also could not move. We were waiting for rescuers to come. My mother kept saying, 'Just be patient, just be patient'."

After they were pulled from the rubble, Mustafa and his family were put up in a container home.

Mustafa could not contain his emotions when talking about the people he had lost.

He said: "About 15 of my friends living in the same building died. It's very hard to explain what it's like to go through something like this."