Number of tent residents decrease to 7,500 in Van

VAN - Hürriyet

Currently there are 28,500 container houses in Van and they provide housing to 117,000 people, according to information given by Van Governor Karaloğlu. DHA photo

Following the last relocation of tent resident into container houses, the number of people living in tents has been lowered to 7,500 and is expected to decrease soon, Van Gov. Münir Karaloğlu said.

Karaoğlu told daily Hürriyet 28,500 container houses were set up in the city and provided housing to 117,000 people. There are currently 29 container cities in central Van and five more in the district of Erciş, he added.

“Continuously we work for the other 7,500 people to be placed in the containers as soon as possible. The ones whose houses were damaged in the earthquake were placed in the container cities,” Karaoğlu said.
So far 122 tent fires broke out in downtown Van, killing 10 people, mainly children. Earthquake victims are often forced to burn coal or use wood burning stoves for heating in a bid to cope with an unusually cold winter in the province.

More than 640 people were killed in two earthquakes that hit the eastern province of Van last year, which saw massive devastation in the wake of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 23 and another temblor two weeks after, which killed over 600 and left hundreds of thousands homeless