Turkish Airlines carries over 11,000 volunteers earthquake zone in southern Türkiye

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish Airlines has carried over 11,000 volunteers to southern Türkiye after the region was hit by powerful earthquakes, the national flag carrier said on Tuesday.

Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said: "11,780 of our volunteer citizens who came to our airports to go to the earthquake zone following the invitation of AFAD (the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency), were taken to Adana, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, and Urfa with a total of 80 flights this morning until 7.00."

Pointing out that there could be disruptions in transfers to the region due to density, Eksi underlined that flights to the earthquake zone would continue without interruption.

At least 3,419 people were killed and 20,534 others injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye after two strong earthquakes on Monday jolted the southern part of the country, an official from Türkiye's disaster agency AFAD said Tuesday.

Early Monday morning, a 7.7 magnitude tremor struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, then about nine hours later, a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras’ Elbistan district rocked the region, affecting several other provinces.

The earthquakes were also felt in several countries in the region, including Lebanon and Syria.