AS parts of the ceiling and walls collapsed around her South African, Michelle Cillié Arslan, rushed down the passage to her son’s room as the deadliest earthquake in Turkey hit.
A few minutes earlier, Arslan was woken by her cat, Miss Mable, whom she believes was their saving grace.
Arslan, her husband Irfan and nine-year-old son Serdal Craig were some of the lucky few to escape two earthquakes, reaching 7.4 and 7.7 magnitudes, that struck parts of Turkey and Syria. The earthquakes claimed over 21 000 lives.
Arslan, from Worcester, said she noticed that her bed was moving and then the walls and building began to shake and sway - and parts of her ceiling crushed down.
She immediately knew it was an earthquake.
Instinct kicked in for Arslan, she rushed down her passage leading to her son’s bedroom as pieces of her ceiling fell down and glass shattered and a crack ran up her wall.
They grabbed warm clothes and essentials and fled their home in a city which would become the epicentre of the second worst earthquake disasters seen in Turkey in the past century.
Next they raced with their vehicle to the mountains, seeking shelter and safety and passed ruins of crushed buildings and cars, some of which Arslan filmed videos to show the world.
“At 4.15am, my cat, Miss Mable woke me up. The building began to shake and then swayed from side to side. It was the longest and strongest quake I’ve ever experienced.”
She said the second earthquake hit after that and as they fled their home in, Kahramanmaras, children and adults fled their homes in pyjamas and were bare feet in one the coldest months of the year.
“It was ferocious. I had difficulty keeping my balance running down the hallway to get my son.
“Pieces of the ceiling started falling. Glass shattered in the kitchen. A crack instantly ran up the wall. It was terrifying. We dressed as warm as possible, grabbed Miss Mable and ran.”
Arslan said they were legt with very few supplies and had no electricity but were grateful to be alive.
They are now safe and in survival mode and will be seeking safety and accommodation in the south-west of Turkey.
“Emergency services just do not have the manpower to deal with this magnitude of a disaster. On top of it all the weather is horrid, freezing cold rain and it snowed a lot too.
“We are absolutely traumatised. All night the aftershocks kept coming and reports of friends and colleagues who perished too. There are people far worse off than us. We are trying to get by with what we have.”
Two hours away from Arslan another South African, Grace Jacks, from Pinetown said her boyfriend lost 18 family members.
Jacks has been working as an assistant crèche teacher and part-time nanny in Istanbul for the past four years.
Her daughter Lena Jacks is also currently with her.
“On the day of the earthquake, on Monday, the government sent out an alert that schools would be closed due to a snow storm.
“I remember the lights flickering and it felt like the building was shaking, the landlord came up and asked me if I had put the heater on because it affects the lights and I said I did not.
“He then asked me if I heard that. I tried to call my boyfriend and when I eventually reached him, he informed me that he had lost 18 of his family members.”
She said on Tuesday the government declared a week of mourning.
“We are safe, but we all have a common grief here, we are feeling it.”
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson, Clayson Monyela said they had not received notification for help from South Africans living in Turkey or Syria but appealed for them to reach out if they needed assistance.
“We’ve not been alerted to any other South African affected by the earthquake,” he said.
“We are aware of four SA prisoners whose prison was affected but there were no injuries. It’s a developing situation so we shall continue to monitor it. Our embassy in Ankara is on standby to provide assistance to any South African who may require it.”
He added that anyone that has an enquiry or question may contact the embassy in Ankara or Dirco on 012 351 1000.”
Turkish Ambassador to South Africa, Aysegul Kandas, has been working around the clock together with the Turkish Embassies in Pretoria and Cape Town and various organisations including Gift of the Givers and the Turkish Disaster Agency to ensure manpower, medical supplies and other essentials for the search and rescue.
A 60-strong team which includes medical doctors are currently on the ground in Turkey and on Thursday another team arrived with Gift of Givers and dogs from the SAPS’s K-9 unit to assist.
Kandas said South Africa was one of the first countries to respond to Turkey’s plea for help.
“It is the second biggest earthquake in the past century. The other one began in the south-east of Turkey in 1939. It is beyond the capacity of one government State to deal with that is why, in the first hours of the disaster, Turkey made a big international emergency appeal for search and rescue team and medical teams.
“We are so happy that amongst the first countries that responded was South Africa. Last we recorded, it was 70 countries that responded.”
She said there were currently six SA organisations on the ground.
“What we need now is medical supplies, medical devices, medicine, the list of the urgently needed material are on our social media accounts.
“We need mostly blankets, winter clothes and tents and power banks because there is no electricity and heaters and electrical blankets and this must be unused and new. We have appealed to Dirco and the National Disaster and Management Centre, in charge of coordinating the South African response.”
“As the ambassador of Turkey, I would like to say we are truly grateful for all the help.”
Gift of the Givers announced on their Facebook page that their second team had arrived safely in Turkey on Thursday night.
To support relief efforts make contact with the Turkish Consulate on 078 821 1991 or reach them on their Facebook and Twitter account @Turkish EMBPTA, for the Embassy in Pretoria or @Cape Turkish for the Consulate.