Six more bodies of Turkish Cypriots were found overnight in the rubble of a hotel in Adiyaman, authorities in north Cyprus said on Friday, as the bodies of ten victims were returned ahead of their funerals.
The bodies, which arrived at 3.30am on Friday are those of seven students, two teachers, and a parent.
The names of the first ten brought to north Cyprus have ben given as: Ibrahim Yakula (teacher), Pamir Konuklu (teacher), Duygu Kalayci and her daughter Lavin (student), and Fikri Akar, Donuk Akin and his brother Alp, Ozgur Icme, Elvin Cavdir, and Kayan Selim Is, who were students.
Relatives and athletic groups were waiting for the coffins, as they arrived at the Ercan airport. ‘Government’ officials were also there.
According to ‘education minister’ Nazim Cavusoglu, the works at the Isias hotel, where the Turkish Cypriots were staying while taking part in a volleyball competition, will be completed in two days.
‘Mayor’ of Famagusta Suleyman Ulucay, who is in the area as he has three relatives under the rubble, said that the bodies of the school group will be buried in a specially designated area.
The group consisted of 24 students, four teachers, and eleven parents. Four people managed to save themselves at the onset of the earthquake on Monday, a teacher and three parents.
Meanwhile, in the morning the ‘prime ministry’ announced that 16 bodies in total had been pulled from the rubble of the hotel, and that the identity of 14 people had been established.
At least another seven Turkish Cypriots in other locations in Turkey have been reported dead.
This makes the total number of Turkish Cypriots dead in the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey and Syria 23.