Turkey-Syria earthquake: Symbolic red balloons planted over quake debris

The massive earthquake that hit Turkey-Syria on February 6 has left behind a trail of devastation. The images and videos of the tragedy havebeen circulating on social media. While multiple rescue stories have made headlines, a sizable number of people have also lost their lives under the debris.

In the latest, a group of volunteers, in an effort to allay the pain of the tragedy have fixed red coloured balloons all over the earthquake debris in Turkey.The gesture is symbolic to the kids who lost their lives in the catastrophe. A video shared by the BBC showed multiple red balloons been planted around the rubble.

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Oguen Sever Okur, Balloons Project Leader, who spoke to the BBC explained the intention behind the gesture and said, “I wanted this activity to be called ‘my last present to children’. We are still giving presents to children in Hatay but we wanted to fulfil our last duty to these angels and we are carrying out this activity with balloons.” Okur adds, “Believe me, every time we tie a balloon my heart hurts. We have tied 1,000-1,500 balloons so far but we will hopefully continue until we reach all parts of the city, until we reach every home of the children who lost their lives.”

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So far, the total death toll of the quakes in Turkey and Syria have been 43,360. As per an Associated Press report, the 8.8 magnitude earthquake was the deadliest so far in the history of modern Turkey. Apart from the disastrous impact of the earthquake, many stories of survival and miraculous rescues have also been doing the rounds on social media. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that a newborn was rescued from under the debris with her umbilical chord attached to her mother, who died under the same rubble.

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