'I cried out to God, please let our house be whole'

Amid widespread scenes of devastation, the image of Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak in Kahramanmaras earlier this week captured the agony of thousands of families who lost a loved one. 

Speaking to the German media outlet Bild, Hancer held his daughter's hand for two days, before she was pulled out of the rubble and later buried. 

"I was working in the bakery when the earth trembled," Hancer told Bild. "I called my wife. She said that she, my two daughters and my son are safe."

Their youngest daughter Irmak, however, didn't sleep at home that night, instead staying over at her grandmother's.

When Mesut called the grandmother's house no one answered.

"I cried out to God, 'Please let our house be whole'…"

"I tried to dig up my princess with my bare hands. But in the end I had to abandon her to the rubble," said Mesut.