Antakya, Turkey: Dozens of red balloons speckle the rubble of a destroyed building alongside a main road in Turkey's quake-hit south. They are the final tribute to children killed by the earthquake that devastated Antakya, according to Ogun Sever Okur, who is behind the memorial.
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The effect is striking, the bright balloons contrasting starkly with the dusty grey of the rubble and twisted metal that once made up a nine-floor building. Against the monochrome backdrop, a handful of possessions attest to the young lives lost in the earthquake.
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A purple toy emblazoned with cartoon images of Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse lay forgotten near a pink scooter and a fuchsia anorak decorated with love hearts. "Three children died here. They were 18 months, four years and six years old," said Ogun Sever Okur.
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Okur, who grows roses and is a photographer, volunteered as a rescuer in the days after the earthquake in his hometown of Adana, before heading to Antakya 200 kilometres (125 miles) away.
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"I started here and then moved on to the building behind. This area struck me. I couldn't sleep for several nights because we couldn't rescue the children from here," he said.
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Eight days after the quake, Okur began tying balloons to the ruins in the city of 400,000 people, now a ghost town disturbed only by diggers and lorries removing rubble.
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More than 42,000 people were killed in Turkey in the earthquake though Turkish officials have not yet said how many of those were children.
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While the speed of the emergency response in Antakya was widely condemned, father-of-two Okur said there was no political motive behind his work, instead emphasising its sentimental meaning.
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Since 2020, he has supported underprivileged children through his association, providing youngsters with toys and food, and in some cases prosthetic limbs or operations.
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He said the balloons were "the last toy (he could) offer" to young victims, attaching as many as 1,000 to five or six buildings in Antakya.
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Red balloons typically "represent joy, love," he said. But in Antakya, after the earthquake, "this is the first time a balloon has made us cry".
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Red balloons attached to parts of a destroyed apartment building are seen, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Turkey.
Image Credit: Reuters
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