‘I came to life with cigarette’: Turkish earthquake victim

AGRI, Türkiye

A Turkish earthquake victim said Saturday that he turned to his cigarette for comfort while he was under the rubble for more than 50 hours.

Ziya Soner Tugtekin, 60, was rescued with his son 56 hours after the quake in the southeastern Adiyaman province

"I don't know how many days we waited under the rubble. I don't know how this time passed. I had my tobacco with me, I was rolling and smoking tobacco when no one came,” Tugtekin told Anadolu.

“When I was pulled out of the rubble, I had the cigarette in my hand, they told me to throw it away. I didn't because I came to life with a cigarette,” he added.

He advised people to be cold-blooded and not get excited during disasters.

“At the time of the earthquake, when my daughter and my wife were trying to come to me, the ceiling collapsed on them and my wife and daughter died there,” he said. “My son, Deniz, who is around 85 kilos (187 pounds), was stuck between the seat and his rib was damaged.”

At least 40,642 people have been killed and over 108,000 injured in two powerful earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to the latest figures.

The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa.​​​​​​​

*Writing by Gozde Bayar