Child’s body found, missing since Feb 6 quakes

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

The body of a 2.5-year-old girl, who went missing and searched for more than a year after she was trapped under the rubble in the Feb. 6 earthquakes, has been found in another quake-hit province.

Serdar Kılınç, who lived in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, his wife and their 5-year-old eldest daughter Azra all lost their lives in the earthquake disaster. While the bodies of three people were buried after the earthquake, the body of Ayla could not be found.

A DNA matching test indicated that Ayla's body was buried in another city, Fatma Kılınç, Ayla's aunt, said, adding that the body was mistakenly taken in place of the body of another child, who was buried in the cemetery of orphans in Kahramanmaraş, then sent to Elazığ and Ayla's body was taken out of Elazığ and brought to Kahramanmaraş.

The twin earthquakes affected 11 southern provinces and left the region with a death toll of more than 53,000, with many people missing. On Sep. 25, 2023, relatives of the missing people founded the Association for Solidarity with Earthquake Victims and Relatives of the Missing (DEMAK-DER). The association received 145 missing persons applications, including 38 children.