Rabbi in Turkey saves Torah scrolls in Antakya, a city 'gone for ever' after earthquake

Antakya survivors face 'breathtaking' devastation in country's worst-hit province

The brother of a survivor Gokhan Ugurlu, 35, who was pulled out of the rubble in Hatay, Turkey, reacts as a rescuer looks on. Reuters

A woman walks past flattened buildings in a street in Hatay province, Turkey. Reuters

A member of the army stands amid rubble in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A man reacts while sitting outside a tent of a temporary accommodation centre set up on a football pitch in Gaziantep, Turkey. Reuters

Earthquake survivors walk on a street in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

A White Helmets volunteer holds a rescued cat in the rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

A Syrian boy, who lost his family in the deadly earthquake, stands amid the rubble of his family home in Jindayris. AFP

Rescuers sit by a bonfire in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

A Turkish soldier walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay. AFP

Relatives of Palestinian doctor Yusuf Darabeh, who died when the earthquake hit Turkey, comfort each other. AP Photo

People stand by a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey. AP Photo

A child, injured in the earthquake, is treated at hospital in Bab Al Hawah, Syria. AP Photo

Vehicles containing aid from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) on the Iraqi side of the Iraq-Syria border. Reuters

Rescuers carry Muhammed Alkanaas, 12, to an ambulance after five days under the rubble in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Romanian firefighters load a Turkey-bound train with emergency aid near Bucharest. AP

Collapsed buildings in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

Abdulkerim Nano, 67, is rescued after five days under the rubble in in Kahramanmaras, Turkey

A Turkish rescue worker checks a collapsed building in Adiyaman. AP

Rescuers in Adiyaman, Turkey. AP

A resident in front of his collapsed building in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras. AFP

Syrian refugees shelter in a public market in the Islahiye district of Gaziantep, Turkey. AP

A family wait for the bodies of their relatives to be recovered in Antakya, Turkey. AP

A woman plays with a sniffer dog in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

A Syrian woman takes care of her nephew Hasan Goayid, eight, in Islahiye district, Gaziantep. AP

A Syrian child in a tent in the Islahiye district. AP

Collapsed buildings in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras. AFP

Emirati rescuers sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in the regime-controlled town of Jableh, northwest of the Syrian capital. AFP

Volunteers at the Emirates Red Crescent 'Bridges of Goodness' campaign at the South Hall, Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City. Leslie Pableo for The National

Martin Griffiths, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, in Maras, Turkey. Reuters

Rescuers give water to a dog after a rescue operation in Hatay, southern Turkey. AP

A deadly earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6. EPA

Fissures from the earthquake have crumpled the highway near Islahiyeh in Southern Turkey. Matt Kynaston / The National

A Kurdish charity's aid convoy enters Syria through the Bab Al Salama crossing with Turkey, in the northern province of Aleppo. AFP

A rescuer with a sniffer dog searches in a destroyed building in Antakya, southern Turkey. AFP

A makeshift camp erected in a stadium in the city of Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey. EPA

A woman mourns Turkish Cypriot victims of the earthquake, during a funeral procession in the Turkish occupied area in north-east coastal city of Famagusta, Cyprus. AP

Rescuers carry survivor Rabia Ofkeli, 27, from the rubble in Hatay, southern Turkey. Reuters

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad visits Aleppo university hospital. Reuters

Members of the Swiss rescue team with a four-month-old girl, Abir, who was pulled out from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

Survivors at a hospital in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Members of the White Helmets during the fifth day of rescue operations in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

Indonesian Muslims perform a prayer for the victims at Istiqlal grand mosque in Jakarta. EPA

Emergency personnel conduct a rescue operation to save Melda, 16, from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, southern Turkey. AFP

The earthquake caused a railbed overpass to collapse in Nurdagi, Turkey. AFP

A framed picture on the cracked wall of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, south-eastern Turkey. EPA

A coastal area of Iskenderun, Turkey, was flooded after the quake. Reuters

A sheet of paper lies among the rubble in Elbistan. AP

Relief supplies destined for earthquake survivors in Turkey, at a warehouse in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, Germany. AP

Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, three days after the earthquake struck. AFP

Rescuers with a child pulled out from under the rubble. Reuters

Rescuers rest on top of rubble as an aircraft drops water over a fire at the port in the quake-stricken town of Iskenderun. Reuters

A rescue worker in Kahramanmaras, three days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck south-east Turkey. AFP

People try to pull out a dog trapped beneath the rubble in Iskenderun, Turkey. Reuters

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid wait at Bab Al Hawa crossing on the Turkey-Syria border. Reuters

Syrians warm up by a fire outside a makeshift tent near the rebel-held town of Jindayris in Syria. AFP

A dam on the Orontes river in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province collapsed after the quake, flooding the neighbourhood. AFP

The sails of the Sydney Opera House lit with a black ribbon in remembrance and mourning of the earthquake victims. Getty

Smoke billows amid an expanse of collapsed and damaged buildings in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Dogs of the German International Search and Rescue team rest between operations in Kirikhan, Turkey. Reuters

White Helmets volunteers rescue a child trapped beneath the rubble in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

People gather to collect food and humanitarian aid in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras, south-east Turkey. EPA

The statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, is surrounded by damaged buildings in Adiyaman province. AP

A plane carrying humanitarian air sent for earthquake survivors lands in Damascus. Mahmoud Rida / The National

Motorway fractured by earthquake causes car crash near Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Matt Kynaston / The National

A tent camp has been set up at a stadium in south-eastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras to shelter families whose homes were destroyed in the quake. AFP

A displaced Syrian woman rests under a tree in a field on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Jindayris. AFP

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey

In a Turkish city engulfed by grief and destruction, Rabbi Mendy Chitrik has found a ray of light.

In a damaged synagogue in earthquake-stricken Antakya, in southern Hatay province, Torah scrolls dating back 500 years were saved as volunteers from Turkey's small Jewish community raced to save their heritage after Monday's earthquake in the country.

Hatay was the province hit hardest by the earthquake, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Turkey and Syria. It is the biggest quake to strike Turkey since 1939.

The provincial capital, Antakya, was known for its multiculturalism — it is home to Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Arabs and Jews. It has been largely destroyed.

Rabbi Chitrik travelled to Antakya immediately after the quake hit and arrived to find 60 per cent of the city was reduced to rubble.

"It's a very, very scary situation," he told The National from Istanbul, before returning to Antakya. "It's surreal."

The 500-year-old Torah scrolls were handwritten and served the community of 25 people.

"We wanted to save the holy books from destruction," said the rabbi, also the chair of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.

"They don't have monetary value, but they are treasures of the beautiful Jewish community that has practised here for 2,500 years uninterrupted.

"People have lived here for thousands of years, together. People speak different languages — Arabic, Turkish Kurdish, everyone lives together."

Israeli rescue teams have been sent to aid the search for survivors in the cities of Gazantep and Kahramanmaras, but the rabbi said they had not yet arrived in Antakya.

'Why did I survive?'

Augustin Debsi was asleep when the quake struck in the early hours of Monday.

He crawled through the darkness as neighbours cried for help from the next room.

After the ground stopped shaking, he raced back inside his home to grab his grandfather's engagement ring, a memento of the man who motivated him to return to Antakya in 2021, when he visited to reconnect with relatives.

Out in the street, he walked from one mosque to another seeking shelter, but all were full. He passed injured people, as well as groups digging through the rubble in the search for survivors.

"I felt as if I didn't know the town, and at the same time was hit by an enormous sadness that took my breath away," he told The National. "This is my grandfather's hometown, and his home is completely destroyed.

"The mosques, the bazaar, all the places I went to when I lived there have been reduced to pieces."

He is now in Ankara, having travelled for hours through Hatay province, passing through flattened villages and long queues for food.

"Between Antakya and Belen, every village was destroyed," said Mr Tanriverdi, who plans to fly to France.

"The situation seemed better in the mountains, but there was no food or electricity.

"I feel empty and powerless. I have been hit by a wave of guilt.

"Why did I survive and not others, including my family members?

"Antakya.. is nothing more than a pile of ruins with people wandering the streets and ghosts sat on the rubble."

Other survivors in the city have said Antakya as it was has disappeared for ever.

Residents have described desperately appealing for help to use equipment including cranes to sift through the rubble.

"I saw Harbiye Street all in ruins in my nightmare. That street completely vanished yesterday," said Selim Bora.

"I don't have a place to call home any more.

"The most beautiful piece of my heart is gone now. We're just the memories of [Antakya]. The city will live on forever in our memories."