"Looking out from under a large slab of concrete and brick, Abdulalim Muaini gestures weakly to his rescuers. More than two days have passed since a major earthquake brought his home in Hatay, Turkey, collapsing on top of him. Nearby lies his wife Esra. The ransom has come too late for her."
Thus begins the report that accompanies the shocking images captured by the camera of Reuters photographer Umit Bektas, assigned for precisely two days in Hatay, one of the places most affected by the earthquake.
Abdulaim had been buried under the runes for two days in one of the most damaged neighborhoods in the city. There, the search and rescue volunteers had found this family man who was trapped under the rubble by his legs but who remained conscious and could talk to rescuers about him.
Family friends explained to the photographer that Abdulalim was of Syrian origin, from Homs. He had fled the civil war and married Esra, a Turkish woman. The couple had two daughters, Mahsen and Besira, they said.
After a few hours of work, the rescue teams finally managed to pull Abdulalim out of the rubble, covered in gray dust, with one swollen eye, dehydrated but alive. A story with a bittersweet ending, because next to him lay three lifeless bodies wrapped in blankets: they were those of Esra, Mahsen and Besira. His family.
