Volleyball Player Kim Yeon-koung Appeals "Please Help"
#Pray for Turkiye Mourning Citizens
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] As news of the damage in Turkiye (Turkey) and Syria, where a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred, spread, waves of mourning and support have continued domestically.
The earthquake this time was followed by several aftershocks as strong as the main quake, and since the affected areas span a wide region, it is known that rescue personnel and supplies are severely insufficient.
Volkan Demirel, a former goalkeeper of the Turkiye national football team, appealed for help through a social network service (SNS) live broadcast on the 6th (local time), saying, "Please help. People are dying" and "This place has been completely devastated," alerting the seriousness of the local situation and requesting assistance.
On the 6th (local time), a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred inland about 33 km from Gaziantep, a city in southern Turkey. / EPA=Yonhap News
Donation campaigns are also ongoing domestically. Volleyball player Kim Yeon-koung personally appealed for help and attention to Turkiye's recovery from the damage. She posted about the Turkiye earthquake damage three times on her Instagram and introduced detailed methods for sending donations.
Turkiye is like a 'second hometown' to Kim Yeon-koung. In 2011, she joined Fenerbah?e, the Turkiye women's volleyball league which was the best in the world at the time, and enjoyed her prime by winning seven championship cups over six years. From 2018 to 2020, she also played for Eczacıba?ı.
Various ways to donate to Turkiye and Syria are being shared on social media platforms such as Twitter. Posts expressing condolences with the hashtag '#PrayForTurkiyeAndSyria' have also continued.
Relief organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are conducting emergency relief fundraising. As of 9:30 a.m. on the 8th, organizations conducting fundraising through Naver Happybean include UNICEF, World Vision, M?decins Sans Fronti?res, the Korean Red Cross, Save the Children, and Good Neighbors. Good Neighbors announced that they will support by raising 1 million dollars (about 1.25 billion won), and World Vision plans to support with 10 million dollars (about 12.7 billion won).
Meanwhile, the government will dispatch a 110-member emergency relief team (KDRT), composed of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Fire Agency, and KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), to Turkiye. This is the largest single dispatch among emergency relief teams sent by South Korea to overseas disaster areas.
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