Four-year-old Muhammed El Hasan Ali, who has been living in a tent with his Syrian family following devastating earthquakes in Turkey in early February, died in a tent fire in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya, the TR724 news website reported.
According to TR724, a fire broke out early on May 9 in a tent the Syrian family had set up in front of their house, which was damaged by the earthquakes, claiming the life of Muhammed El Hasan Ali.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep – home to around 2 million people and on the border with Syria – as people were sleeping on February 6 was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude temblor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue efforts the same day.
Earthquake survivors are still facing problems more than three months after the disaster and have been living in tents and experiencing serious health issues.
A total of 501,069 tents have been set up since the earthquakes, said Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) Chairman Yunus Sezer.
According to a report by the Association for Migration Research (GAR), the official figures show that 1,738,035 of the Syrians who were granted temporary protection status in Turkey, corresponding to 49.64 percent of the total, were directly affected by the earthquakes in February.
Syrians who were already displaced due to the civil war at home were once again displaced by the earthquakes. The situation has turned into a recurring trauma for them.
