‘It’s a miracle’: how the 17 siblings of a Turkish expat living in Spain survived the terrible earthquake

Turkish expat Refik Agri waited in silent fear for five hours as his family heard nothing but radio silence after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck their home country.

Agri, who now calls Torremolinos home on the Malaga coast, watched helplessly as videos quickly surfaced on social media from survivors of the first quake showing the utter devastation.

“I saw my hometown being decimated building by building,” he told the olive press.

Agri is one of 18 siblings, all living in Iskenderun and Antakya, in Turkey’s Hatay province, close to the Syrian border and only 200 km from the epicenter.

Finally, a text came through from his niece: “Uncle, I don’t know how, but all your brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews: we’re all alive, don’t worry.”

Agri said his immediate family totals about 500 people, and miraculously none of them are among the 41,000 people confirmed dead, as of February 15.

“When I got that message it was like when water is released from a dam and I started crying uncontrollably,” Agri said.

“We are 18 siblings and I have no idea how many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews I have.

“We are probably 500 people just in my immediate family and we don’t have a single death, is it a miracle or what?”

Equally notable was the survival of Agri’s niece, Serap Sert, and her family.

The 38-year-old woman, with her husband Murat and their two children Emre, 21, and Sila, 18, fled barefoot into the freezing cold just as their entire apartment building collapsed on February 6.

Inside the complex there were eight levels and 32 apartments: the Sert family are the only people alive in that building today.

“I talk to her and she says ‘man, I don’t know how we got out, I don’t know how we’re alive,’” Agri said.

The retired financial adviser also described one of his nephews as the “luckiest man alive.”

“He grabbed his family and led them to the door when he realized his five-year-old daughter was not with them,” Agri said.

“So he stops them all and says ‘either we’re all going to die or we’re all going to live’.”

Agri’s nephew wandered into the darkness in search of his daughter, found her, and carried her back to the door when the ladder they were about to use to escape collapsed down the side of the building.

“If they had continued, my nephew, his wife and their three children would all be dead, that five-year-old boy saved all of their lives,” Agri said.

The family finally made it out to safety.

Agri left Iskenderun when he was 18 to study at Bursa University in northwestern Turkey.

He then lived in the United States for 30 years where he worked as a financial advisor before retiring and moving to Torremolinos in 2021.

Agri tries to keep in touch with her loved ones every day, but the poor reception in the disaster zone makes it extremely difficult.

More than a week after the deadly quake, she said her family members are still reporting aftershocks.

“There are thousands of rubble mounds that have not yet been checked for survivors,” Agri said.

“You can’t get past a lot of them because the smell of the corpses is so strong, and then in others you can hear noises and screams, but they’re all too busy trying to save their own family.”

Many people left homeless, including Agri’s niece Serap, are living in tents on the streets.

Those whose houses did not collapse don’t even sleep inside for fear their buildings will collapse, he added.

But despite the death, destruction and all the tears Agri shed last week, he said witnessing his compatriots helping each other gave him hope that Turkey would recover.

Heroic videos and stories of people pulling family, friends and strangers out from under piles of rubble have won hearts around the world.

Many countries, including Spain, have sent teams of volunteers to join the rescue efforts.

“The division in the country right now is so horrible and so deep, but this has made people wake up and realize their true culture and their true humanity,” Agri said.

“Spain is my home now and I don’t see myself ever leaving, but that doesn’t mean I will never stop loving my beloved Turkey and they will get over this.”

anthony@theolivepress.es

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