COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After the deadliest earthquake in more than a decade struck Turkey and Syria earlier this month, tragedy runs deep more than 6,600 miles away in Colorado Springs.
Turkish native Erdal Bengogullari said 18 members of his extended family have died in the catastrophe that struck on Feb. 6. Eleven of those cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws on his mother's side were in the same apartment building in Adana, Bengogullari's hometown and a city that was hard hit by the disaster.
He said his mother and sister are grieving and displaced from home, driving up to six hours a day, back and forth between a safe place to sleep and the ruins of their home city to help other survivors and bury loved ones. Members of the Bengogullari family are among thousands who have perished. The death toll has surpassed 45,000 as rescue efforts pivot to recoveries.
