These are the tragic photographs of children from a town in North Cyprus who died in the Turkish earthquake after winning a volleyball tournament.
Yesterday (Sunday, 12th February), the last of the 39 people from the tournament who died, including 24 children, were buried.
The team had reportedly won the tournament, and had gone to bed in their rooms on the 10th floor of the hotel after celebrating the victory when the earthquake suddenly struck.
The children were all aged between 11 and 14, and all the members of the group that died, including 10 parents, four teachers and a trainer, were killed when their hotel in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman collapsed.
The team was from Turkish Maarif College in Famagusta, in Turkish Cypriot-controlled North Cyprus.
All of the children seen the pictures died, and Dr Mesel Veli, who was a relative of one of the children, said: “My cousin’s child was one of the volleyball players.
“The unbearably tragic outcome of this school trip to participate in the tournament has devastated the local community. Questions are bing asked of the hotel building quality.”
Chen pictures from the ceremony online, Ersin Tatar, who is the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, said: “We bid farewell to our Champion Angels with our tears.
“Our pain is big. I share the grief of the families. All of us were heartbroken.
“Our Champion Angels will always be with us, they will live in our hearts. May they rest in peace, may their place be heaven.”
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Authority has said that 31,643 people are dead and more than 80,000 injured in the country.
The total death toll in Turkey and Syria now exceeds 35,000 people, with the latest figures indicating more than 3,574 people dead in Syria.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck early on the morning of 6th February in southern Turkey, devastating the south of the country and northern Syria, has been described by Turkish President Erdogan as one of the worst disasters in decades.
A second earthquake of 7.6 magnitude hit the same region again at 11:24am local time on 6th February, causing even more damage.
