‘It’s hell – everyone cries’: UK families of earthquake victims race to their aid

Ercan, manager of Gökyüzü restaurant in Green Lanes, London: six of his family members have been buried under the rubble. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Within hours of getting news of Monday’s devastating earthquakes, Dundee-based takeaway owner Ali set off with three family members to Turkey. The plane from Stansted airport was full of people on their way to Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep and Sanlıurfa, all embarking on the same desperate challenge: a race against the clock, across Europe, to rescue loved ones.

But reaching Turkey was only the beginning. At Kayseri airport, Ali, 46, was forced to wait while he was held and questioned by Turkish authorities. “Why? Because I am a Kurdish man from a remote Kurdish village near the Syrian border,” he told the Observer. “Now, my home town is destroyed too.” Then they had trouble finding essentials for their journey: fuel for their hire car, water and bread.