VIDEO. Earthquake in Turkey: Clémence, French expatriate, tells

“The buildings that still remain are in danger of collapsing as well, so people can’t come in to get clothes, can’t use their bathrooms. There is no running water, there is no electricity, it’s been like this for 3 days.” Clémence is French, and lived in Samandağ, Turkey, with her husband and their child. In the night from Sunday to Monday, they were woken up by the earthquake that hit their city. “We were literally thrown out of bed. And the shaking kept going, so we grabbed our baby, we wrapped him in blankets because it’s very, very cold, we tried to take two, three things and run to the car to take refuge”, says Clemence.

“The situation is catastrophic”

On the spot, the locals try to rescue those who remained under the rubble. Others decide to leave and find refuge elsewhere, like Clémence’s family. “We decided to go to Mersin, which is another city on the coast and which seems to be a little less affected. So, we are on the road and obviously, we are not the only ones to leave”she explains.

“We had to go through the city of Antioch, which is one of the big cities of Hatay, and the situation is catastrophic. There are no words to explain what is happening there. So I just wanted to share it with everyone and encourage people to donate”, she shows. After six hours on the road, here they are in Mersin. “I think we can say we’re safe and sound”, explains Clemence.

“We took refuge in the vacation apartment of my in-laws, with 9 people. We had to leave without a goodbye, we just left everything there this morning, but we think that the support will continue. You should know that Samandağ is like a big village and everyone knows each other, people are very close and that’s how we’ve been able to live these last few days. It is thanks to the support”, she thinks.