JakartaPost-Feb 8
An Indonesian woman and her family were among those who perished in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck on Monday in Turkey, the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara confirmed on Wednesday. Entering the third day of search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake, the embassy announced the first two confirmed Indonesian deaths in the disaster. Three teams from the embassy were deployed in freezing winter conditions as they arrived to help evacuate hundreds of their fellow citizens from the four hardest-hit regions of Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaras. “The deceased and her family will be interred in Kahramanmaras today [Wednesday],” Iqbal said. Several other Indonesian expatriates were still unaccounted for, including two spa therapists in Dyarbakir and another Indonesian in Gaziantep, whose death was previously reported by a local media outlet but remained unverified. The embassy statement added that one woman and her two children, who lived in Hatay and had been previously unreachable, were found alive and well and evacuated to safety. The combined death toll of the disaster that affected regions in Turkey and northwest Syria had crept past 11,200 on Wednesday, according to various news agencies. The Indonesian government has sent its first disaster relief package to Turkey and is currently planning to send more aid to both Ankara and Damascus. Read more at:
