Editor’s note: Graphic content. The following article contains photos of civilian casualties and injured children.
ADIYAMAN, Turkey — As the temperatures plunged, anger was growing in Turkey over the government’s response to two massive earthquakes earlier this week.
On Thursday, the number of those killed by the tremors in Turkey and neighboring Syria passed 20,000.
With their homes destroyed, thousands spent a freezing Wednesday night amid the debris in streets of Adiyaman, huddled around small fires and with little shelter. Electricity and water were nonexistent in the southern city.
New burial sites being dug at Kapicam City Cemetery for those who lost their lives in the earthquake after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces of Turkey including Kahramanmaras, on February 09, 2023.
Evrim Aydin | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Fearful of another earthquake, some chose to stay out in the open, avoiding buildings that appeared intact and choosing instead to brave the sub-zero temperatures.
Some grieved silently, while others shouted their misery as the quakes claimed more victims. One man burst into an aid organization center and demanded loudly that officials to rescue his family.
Perihan Sayar, 60, said she had lost her 10-year-old granddaughter Ulku, as well as her home.
“I lived alone, in a one room house,” she said. “Now my house is also gone.”
Others said they were furious at what they said was a slow response from the government, and said that rescue teams had arrived in the city with the wrong equipment to dig through the rubble. NBC News could not independently confirm this assertion.
“Nobody was here to help us, I have complaints about all the authorities here,” said Nursen Guler on Wednesday, adding that she had one son in the hospital and another who was still trapped under rubble.
“There are no teams here, everyone is waiting for rescue teams,” she said.
A man reacts next to the graves of victims of the deadly earthquake, in a…
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