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The Earthquake Survivors Living on a Turkish Sleeper Train
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LanguageEnglish
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Turkey Quake Survivors Train
HEADLINE: The Earthquake Survivors Living on a Turkish Sleeper Train
TEASER: More than two months on from deadly quake, hundreds of thousands of survivors are still living in temporary shelters
PUBLISHED AT: 04/11/2023 916A
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR: Memet Aksakal
DATELINE: Iskenderun and London
VIDEOGRAPHER: Memet Aksakal
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:22
VID APPROVED BY: sv
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Around one-and-a-half million people in Turkey were made homeless by the February 6 earthquake, with many still lacking permanent shelter. In the city of Iskenderun – badly hit by the quake - local authorities are using every available space, as Henry Ridgwell reports.]]
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEE TRAIN))
The sleeping cars lined up at Iskenderun railway station allude to adventure.
But this train is going nowhere. Hundreds of the city’s residents made homeless by February’s earthquake are now living in these cramped wagons.
Among them is Sevil Uygur.
[[FOR RADIO: He says... “We have no houses, they are gone. They were levelled to the ground. So we took shelter here with the children and we live here… They bring us food, the people here are not left hungry. But sleeping here is very problematic and difficult.”
((Sevil Uygur, Homeless Earthquake Survivor (in Turkish) ))
“We have no houses, they are gone, they were levelled to the ground. So we took shelter here with the children and we live here… They bring us food, the people here are not left hungry. But sleeping here is very problematic and difficult.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF BURIN UYGUR))
Uygur’s granddaughter is desperate to return to normality.
[[FOR RADIO: Uygur’s granddaughter Burin Uygur is desperate to return to normality. “I want to go to the school, she says, but at the moment the situation does not allow. Of course, I want to go to school.”
((Burin Uygur, Homeless Earthquake Survivor (in Turkish) ))
“I want to go to the school but at the moment the situation does not allow, of course I want to go to school.”
[[Radio track: Sevil Uygur says a lack of money has made a bad situation worse. “If we could go to another place she could go to school, but we could not so we stayed here. Those who have money escaped and have gone to the other cities and their childrn go to school. But we cannot do it, so we sit here on the train.”]]
((Sevil Uygur, Homeless Earthquake Survivor (in Turkish) ))
“If we could go to another place she could go to school, but we could not so we stayed here. Those who have money escaped and have gone to the other cities and their children go to school. But we cannot do it, so we sit here on the train.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEE TRAIN))
There are around seven-hundred people living in the twenty-seven wagons.
Twenty-two of them are sleeping cars with beds – which were quickly taken by the first arrivals. The remaining cars have no beds and people sleep on upright chairs.
Some people living here have homes that are still standing – but are too dangerous to live in.
[[Radio track: Some people living here, like Safiye Kolagasi, have homes that are still standing – but are too dangerous to live in. She says, “Our house is a little damaged. If the authorities say that we can live in our house, we would go today, we are waiting. But we will stay here until they tell us it is safe live there.”]]
((Safiye Kolagasi, Homeless Earthquake Survivor (in Turkish)))
“Our house is a little damaged. If the authorities say that we can live in our house, we would go today, we are waiting. But we will stay here until they tell us it is safe live there.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF REFUGEE TRAIN, STATION))
The rail cars are warmer and drier than a tent. But life here is cramped and crowded – with little privacy.
((VIDEO: VOA/AGENCY FOOTAGE OF EARTHQUAKE AFTERMATH))
With hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed or damaged by the earthquake, it’s not clear when the homeless survivors will be able to move on.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News.))
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