A Scots family say they feel 'helpless' as they anxiously wait to hear whether their relatives have survived a devastating earthquake in Turkey.
Zahra Al-Kaeteeb and her mum Lyna, who live in Springburn, Glasgow were woken at around 5.30am on Monday, February 6 to the heart wrenching news that their loved ones were trapped underneath the rubble in Hatay, Turkey.
The pair - who have family in Syria and Turkey - have managed to contact a family member who described the shocking scenes, according to GlasgowLive.
Lyna's sister Reema Baalbake, 59, and her two children - Yusuf, 18, and Jumana Gumus, 23 - woke up screaming in terror at around 4am local time as their home was hit by the catastrophic earthquake.
The family-of-three were awoken by the 7.8 magnitude force which shook the city of Hatay, in Turkey, on Monday morning, before a six-storey flat collapsed on top of their ground floor apartment.
Jumana was rescued from beneath the rubble on Tuesday morning after being trapped for 31 hours - but her mum and brother remain underground. It is understood three buildings have collapsed and fallen on top of them.
Cousin Zahra, aged 22, said: "Jumana woke up to her mum screaming 'earthquake, earthquake'. She got up to go to her mum’s room and as she got to the corridor the building collapsed.
"It put a barrier between her room and her mum’s room for her to get to her mum and brother.
"She felt a tiny breeze come from a small hole, she couldn’t move but managed to get her finger up to make the hole bigger.
"She never felt hunger or thirst - she was yelling so much for help and her mum and brother, nobody was responding. People heard her on Monday night and asked her what her name was."
Despite being heard on Monday night, it wasn't until Tuesday morning that Jumana was finally rescued. She has broken both her shoulders and legs, is walking barefoot and surviving on soup, biscuits and water in her city that's been completely destroyed.
It is believed a crane and help for citizens in Hatay arrived on Wednesday, three days into the terrible disaster which has so far claimed more than 15,000 lives.
Zahra added: "I woke up to my mum screaming and crying. We are so worried and feel helpless.
"If me and my mum could go, we would get on the next flight but they are not allowing any entry for anyone. I wish I could go and dig with my own bare hands and find them myself.
"They stopped working on Tuesday night. In the area, there’s only one rescue team that’s came from Greece and that’s who is patrolling the area. For the past three days there’s barely been help.
"They’ve been stopping the search overnight because apparently they don’t have torches and it’s too dark for them to see. We don’t believe that the Turkish army or government can’t provide a single torch for them to continue to work overnight.
"They are using a machine which shows if there’s any heartbeats in the area and right now they are saying there isn’t but we are not going to lose hope. We do believe, god-willing, that they will get out alive.
"The whole city of Hatay has gone."
A traumatised Lyna, 58, whose sister and nephew remain trapped underneath the rubble, has been trying to send her niece money but there are no banks left due to the tragedy.
She believes Hatay is not getting the help it needs.
Lyna said: "They are slacking trying to get them. If they were rich people, the whole world would be running to save them.
"These are human beings and people’s lives. It’s not fair, it’s always the poor that suffer the most.
"This is one of the biggest world’s crisis and people are underestimating how many are dead. People are still trapped and under the rubble."
The Scottish Government last night announced that it would be donating £500,000 towards aid efforts in Turkey and Syria.
Those wishing to donate items including clothing, blankets and nappies can do so by dropping donations off at Est-Ethics clinic, on Glasgow's Ingram Street, by Friday.
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