Yunus Emre Kaya sits next to the body of his fiancee Gulcin in a sports hall where relatives are identifying their loved ones in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, February 8, 2023. REUTERS
KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey 鈥� Yunus Emre Kaya and his fianc茅 Gulcin were planning a life together before Monday鈥檚 devastating earthquake shattered their dreams.
Two days later, Kaya said a final farewell to his fianc茅, unzipping a black bodybag to identify her body in a sports hall where casualties from the disaster had been laid out. He gave her a last embrace.
They were due to marry in April.
鈥淚 was planning to clothe her with a wedding dress but now I will clothe her with a funeral shroud,鈥� he said, weeping on the floor of the sports hall in Kahramanmaras, near the epicenter of the quake which killed more than 9,000 people in southern Turkey.
The 24-year-old textile worker, who met Gulcin after he completed military service three years ago when she was just 16, said her death had left him numb.
鈥淚magine somebody tied your hands and feet and you cannot get up. There is no food, no water, no air,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is how I am. I am like the walking dead.鈥�
Kaya was asleep at home when the quake struck, hitting his house 鈥渓ike an explosion鈥� shortly after 4 am on Monday. He grabbed his mother and took her out into the street, before running for 10 minutes straight to Gulcin鈥檚 house.
He found her home in ruins. There were people in the rubble and screams from those trapped underneath. He later learned that both Gulcin and her sister had died.
The couple had originally planned to marry last September, but pushed the date back because her father was abroad.
鈥淪he was saying: 鈥楨mre, I have a feeling we won鈥檛 be able to do the wedding this time either鈥� and she was feeling sad,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t seems like she felt what would happen.鈥�
His only hope, Kaya said, was that neither Gulcin nor her sister felt any suffering.
鈥淎nd I just kiss them on the forehead. I opened (the body bag) and kissed her face. There is nothing else that smells this good. There is no other smell as beautiful as this.鈥�
RELATED STORIES