A mother and her two little boys who took refuge in Turkey from the war in Ukraine were found dead and buried under the rubble caused by the devastating earthquake.
Yulia Petrova, 46, and her sons Zakhar, 10, and Matvii, 5, who managed to escape the war in their country, ended up losing their lives when the 7.8-magnitude quake hit Hatay, the southernmost province of Turkey, on the morning of 6th February.
The three had escaped their hometown of Zaporizhzhia in April 2022 and fled to the city of Antakya, where Yulia’s aunt lived.
Their lifeless bodies were discovered buried under the rubble of the building where they were staying for the past 10 months.
Yulia’s father, Sergey Petrov, told Ukrainian media: “We spoke for the last time on the evening of 5th February, and at 4am the disaster struck.
“I lost touch with them then.”
Yulia’s husband, who is a soldier in the Ukrainian army, was spending time away from the battlefield being treated for injuries when the earthquake happened.
After not hearing a word from his family, he reportedly contacted the Embassy of Ukraine in Ankara for information.
He learned that his wife and kids were among the victims in the wreckage, and later received the sad news of their death.
The family’s bodies were pulled from the rubble on 14th February and are to be returned to Zaporizhzhia, where they will be buried.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Ankara, Vasyl Bodnar, said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “Unfortunately, there were citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake who fled the war and took shelter in Turkey.
“Of course, as an embassy, we mobilised for the evacuation of our citizens from the region.
“But of course, the most obvious support came from the search and rescue team. They have worked on many buildings.
“Unfortunately, six of our Ukrainian citizens lost their lives, we still cannot reach six more people.
“In total, we were looking for 155 citizens in the earthquake zone, we were able to communicate with 149 of them, but we could not communicate with six people yet.
“Most of these citizens continue to stay in the earthquake zone with the support of the Turkish state, and we have evacuated some of them.
“This disaster is our common pain and we will overcome it together.”
