A Melbourne man has been confirmed as the second Australian to die in the Turkey- Syria earthquake, as the death toll passes 23,000.
Suat Bayram, 69, was holidaying in Turkey’s south when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit on Monday.
Bayrum’s Imren daughter said she was “devastated” in a post on Facebook.
“We have lost our beloved father and grandfather,” Imren said.
The family was attempting to find his body from Australia.
They had been part of a vigil in Melbourne yesterday and have been calling on greater Australian government action.
Satellite images paint devastating picture of quake-ravaged towns
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“We’re desperate, we’re desperate to find my dad,” Imren told 9News yesterday.
“He’s the centre of our family. We just want him home, we just want him safe.”
An Australian caught up in the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria earlier in the week is safe and accounted for, according to Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
It comes as rescuers pulled several people alive from the shattered remnants of buildings on Friday, some who survived more than 100 hours trapped under crushed concrete in the bitter cold after a catastrophic earthquake slammed Turkey and Syria, killing more than 22,000.
The survivors included six relatives who huddled in a small pocket under the rubble, a teenager who drank his own urine to slake his thirst, and a 4-year-old boy offered a jelly bean to calm him down as he was shimmied out.
Australian search and rescue experts have departed for the earthquake impact zones as part of a giant international aid effort.
Australia is sending 72 personnel and 22 tonnes of equipment including first aid supplies, tools, cameras, and sub-ground listening equipment to allow them to search for any possible survivors.
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