A Turkish cafe owner in Bristol has told how his friends in the earthquake-hit region have 'lost count' of the number of bodies they've retrieved. Josh Aklan, the co-owner of Laila in Church Road, says when he heard the news last week of the deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, he immediately tried to contact his friends living in the affected region.
Almost two weeks after the disaster, the confirmed death toll has passed 41,000 with the United Nations expecting that number to double. Josh said that his friends who are helping rescue efforts on the ground believe the death toll will rise more still.
“I have a friend who lives in a city next to Adana in southern Turkey. The first thing I did when I heard the news was I called him and after two or three days he replied and said there is no connection or electricity and no water.
