The earthquake left many children orphaned or without a parent. Eight-year-old Keko Çiçek lost several family members when his mother and brother died under the rubble of their mud-brick house. Relatives only told him about the situation a day after he was pulled out alive. He visited the grave of his mother and brother on Wednesday, embracing his mother’s grave in tears. Keko’s father, who works in Germany, left for Turkey upon hearing about the quake on TV and arrived in Elazığ on Thursday.A statement released by the Elazığ Governor’s Office on Thursday scaled back the official death toll to 41, originally been reported to be 51. The statement said erroneous reporting was responsible for the earlier number following Monday’s temblor.
The quake was centered near the town of Başyurt and was followed by more than 41 aftershocks, according to İstanbul’s Kandilli Observatory seismology center. In nearby villages, people lit fires to keep warm after rushing out of their houses in panic before dawn.
The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in villages in the area, said Elazığ Governor Muammer Erol. It also leveled barns, killing farm animals.
The quake was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tunceli, Bingöl and Diyarbakır, where residents fled out into the streets in panic and spent the rest of the night outdoors. Some of the injuries occurred during the panic, when people jumped from windows or balconies.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Elazığ on Thursday with a number of other officials to announce that new houses would be built for the quake’s victims by August.
