A prominent Syrian journalist has died along with 12 members of his family after the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last week.

Syrian journalist Yaman Khatib from the city of Aleppo was found dead under the rubble, along with his family, parents, and sibling, in his home in Turkey, on Sunday, 12th February.

The journalist, who fled Syria at the wake of the war in 2011, made headlines after he returned to his homeland and shot the award-winning ‘Trapped in Idlib’ film in 2020, along with his brother Fadi al-Halabi.

The film reportedly shows the life of locals nearly a decade after the start of the war.

Yaman was considered alive but stuck under the rubble for more than 100 days, before his brother al-Halabi confirmed the tragic truth.

Al-Halabi said: “Here I buried a part of my life, my soul, my heart and my hope… here is the grave of my beloved Yaman, and what a shame for anyone who did not know Yaman and how much he lost, at the same time he’s lucky he did not have to live with the pain of his losses.”

Halabi listed the names of the deceased family members and explained that Khatib’s wife Samah was found next to him, alongside their children.

He also revealed that a younger brother of theirs was also killed in the disaster.

Halabi added: “We have recovered my father’s body.

“We are waiting for my mother’s body and for the body of Timo, Yaman’s youngest son.”

As per the latest update by AFAD, 36,187 have died and 108,068 are injured in Turkey.

Along with more than 5,814 casualties in Syria, more than 42,000 people are confirmed dead.