Dispatch from Turkey: Hatay cut off

Middle East Eye’s Ankara bureau chief, Ragip Soylu, sends an update from Turkey as rescue teams race to find survivors:

“Turkey’s disaster management agency Afad and the Turkish military have mobilised all their units to transport humanitarian aid to the quake-hit region.

The mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas, also announced they were sending aid convoys to the damaged cities.

However, Suzan Sahin, an MP from Hatay, said in televised comments that the situation in the border city is grim, as search and rescue teams still haven’t been able to reach it.

Hatay and Kahramanmaras have been severely hit by the quake, and the runway in Hatay’s only airport, as well as roads leading into the city, have been badly damaged, cutting them off from the rest of Turkey.

Social media is full of Turkish people posting maps and the addresses of their loved ones who are under the rubble and waiting for emergency services.

There is high expectation that the death toll will significantly rise, since there are hundreds of buildings that are yet to be reached by rescue teams.”