Dozens of Somalis went missing in the earthquake that hit Turkey

The Turkish disaster service reported on Wednesday that at least 6,234 people had died and 37,011 had been injured after two powerful earthquakes struck southern Türkiye on Monday.

The UN announced $25 million in humanitarian aid Tuesday for Türkey and Syria following deadly earthquakes.

The United Nations fear that thousands of children have died in the earthquake in Turkey and Northern Syria.

Ambassador Jama Abdullahi Eydid, Somalia’s ambassador to Turkey, told the media that dozens of Somalis are being missed in the earthquake while rescue operations are underway to rescue the people trapped in the ruins of the buildings.

“We are missing some of the 52 students, we are missing about ten, but found others. They are safe, and they are communicating with each other.” Said the ambassador.

The ambassador also said they keep abreast of Somali refugees living in one of the provinces affected by the earthquake.

“Until yesterday, we were communicating with the students. The roads were closed, but today we could send a bus to pick up those people to bring them and their children to Ankara. The Somali community in Ankara are raising funds to settle them.”

Ten provinces in Turkey—Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa—have been placed under a three-month state of emergency.

The Kahramanmaras province was the epicentre of both the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, which devastated 10 districts and affected over 13 million people.