Balloons hung around rubble for children died in quake

ISTANBUL

In Hatay’s Antakya district, colorful balloons were hung in the rubble areas for the children who died in Feb. 6’s quakes.

Hundreds of buildings have been leveled to the ground in Hatay, one of the worst affected cities by the quakes centered in Kahramanmaraş. Members of the Ogün Abi Children’s Association, who came to Antakya from Adana, started an activity that would draw attention.

Members of the association are hanging colorful balloons in the rubble to honor the memory of the children who had lost their lives. They try to identify the exact spots where children died and go among the rubble to put balloons.

“We founded our association after the campaign we started to reach out to children. Normally, we used to organize activities for sick children in need. We are hanging balloons in the name of the children who lost their lives here. Each balloon here represents a child,” said founder Ogün Sever Okur, who participated in the search and rescue operations in Adana and Hatay during the first week after the quakes.

“We are trying to keep the memory of these children alive. I wish we could hand out these balloons to them. Unfortunately, we lost many of our children. We plan to hang these balloons everywhere a child has been lost,” he added.