British-Turkish actor Tamer Hassan has revealed members of his family are lost in the rubble of the earthquakes that have killed more than 17,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
The 54-year-old star, who is the father of Love Island star Belle Hassan, is currently in Cyprus raising vital funds and gathering supplies to help with the humanitarian crisis.
An emotional Hassan told Sky News: “We have family missing. Due to the cold weather, we’re not hopeful... we’re quite worried.
“I have no words. We’re all devastated. We have family that are lost.
“I’ll be heading to Turkey, we’re trying to find a route into the worst affected areas”.
He later added: “There are some areas there that have been completely flattened with no help. We’re holding our hands out for people to help as much as they can.”
Discussing the handling of the crisis, Hassan said the Turkish government “aren’t doing enough” and “need to step up” for their people to come together in their darkest hour.
He continued: “My biggest fear is that people will start turning on each other.
“The government aren’t doing enough. They need to step up and do a lot more for us and unite as one so we can all help as much as we can. We just need help from all over the world and we need to unite as a family.
“It’s devastating for all of us. We’re all broken and trying to do the best that we can. We need the government to send the army in and stand up for their people.
“This humanitarian disaster is like nothing we’ve ever seen and I hope we never see it again in our lifetime. My heart goes out to everyone else who’s lost someone.”
Hassan isn’t the only famous face urging members of the public to help relief efforts as Love Island winner Ekin-Su CülcüloÄlu vowed to do “anything I can” in the wake of the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes this week.
The British-born TV personality - who is of Turkish descent - revealed that some of her family have been caught up in the disaster.
CülcüloÄlu, who is appearing in an appeal video for the British Red Cross, said in an inteview with Sky News: “It’s honestly so heartbreaking because it’s my heritage, I’m Turkish so I’ve got so many friends and family out there.
“I have members of my family who have experienced the shake. They’ve been outside, they’ve been sleeping outside.
“It’s scary because it is people who are close to me.”
Rescuers were still pulling more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings on Thursday, but hopes were starting to fade of finding many more people alive more than three days after the catastrophic earthquake and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.
The death toll has risen to more than than 17,000.
In addition to 12,873 people killed in Turkey, the country’s disaster management agency said more than 60,000 have been injured. More than 2,900 people have been reported dead on the Syria side of the border.
Not to mention, tens of thousands are thought to have lost their homes.
The earthquake’s toll has already outstripped that of a 7.8-magnitude quake in Nepal in 2015, when 8,800 died. A 2011 earthquake in Japan triggered a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people.
