It has been an agonising wait for many people praying to hear from family and friends who may have been caught up in the wreckage of an earthquake in Turkey on Monday.
County Durham restaurant owner Cengiz Akarsu is one of the many people who have been anxiously awaiting news on the safety of loved ones. His family home in Elazığ was severely damaged after the walls to the property crumbled during the earthquake.
And while his family managed to escape, hours passed before Cengiz received news that his friend was accounted for. But this evening Cengiz received a much-needed update that his friend had been pulled from the rubble with his daughter following a nine hour rescue mission.
Cengiz, who owns Akarsu Turkish Restaurant in Durham city centre, said: "We've just had a video sent to us five minutes ago of my friend being pulled out with his daughter. You can't imagine how we felt, we've been waiting for this."
Cengiz explained that his friend and nine-year-old daughter had been trapped in the wreckage of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Turkish city Gaziantep in the early hours of Monday. A nine-hour rescue mission was required to bring them to safety once they were located. The family now awaits news of two more loved ones believed to be caught up in the wreckage.
Thousands of homes and buildings across the south of the country and northern Syria were reduced to rubble as people slept. Cengiz's family home in his hometown of Elazığ has also been severely damaged after the walls to the property crumbled during the earthquake.
Today Cengiz told of how his family were able to escape amid the chaos. He said: "The living room wall collapsed on him but he managed to run and get out in time.
"It was about 3.30am when I got the call from my nephew. He tried to say in the nicest possible way don't be scared but a bad earthquake has happened. That's when I turned the news on and saw what had happened."
More than 6,000 people across both nations are so far confirmed to have died in the natural disaster, though the figure is rising as a search and rescue operation continues. Difficult conditions, including freezing temperatures, are said to be hampering efforts, particularly in rebel-held Syria, where people have fewer resources and there is a lack of routes to deliver aid through.
Three British nationals are missing, and in a statement in the Commons on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary James Cleveley said the department's Crisis Response Hub is working to support at least 35 Britons caught up in the disaster.
Among those joining the relief effort are 12 crew members from the London Fire Brigade and 76 search and rescue specialists being sent by the UK Government with state-of-the-art equipment and four specially trained dogs.
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