Turkiye Boy Leaving a Last Will Amid the Debris... Moving the Whole World

Feeling Death Near, Last Words Captured on Cellphone Video
Family Miraculously Rescued Afterwards, Touching Story Shared

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seung-woo] In T?rkiye, where a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck, the last words of a boy trapped in the rubble have been revealed. Fortunately, the boy was dramatically rescued along with his family, touching hearts worldwide.

On the 19th (local time), according to T?rkiye's state news channel TRT, 17-year-old high school student Taha Erdem was buried instantly under the debris when his apartment collapsed in the early hours of the 6th.

Taha's home was a fourth-floor apartment in a workers' residential area. As the building shook violently, it collapsed downward without any chance to react, and debris covered everything above.

His two younger sisters, aged 13 and 9, were sleeping separately in the same room as their parents, so Taha could not know their whereabouts. When his calls to his family went unanswered, he assumed they had all died in the rubble.

Trapped in the debris, Taha felt the space where he was lying gradually shrinking due to the surrounding concrete blocks and tangled rebar caused by continuous aftershocks. Sensing death approaching, he recorded his final words on his mobile phone.

The Hatay region of Turkey, devastated by the earthquake.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

“I think this is the last video I can send to everyone,” Taha calmly and resolutely began, listing the injuries he had sustained one by one.

He then said, “Death seems to come when you least expect it. I pray that God forgives my sins,” and calmly spoke about the things he wanted to do if he survived and the regrets he had so far. He also said that many people in the city, including his parents and siblings, seemed to have died, and ended his will by saying, “I will soon follow them.”

However, Taha’s expectation of following his family did not come true. A few hours later, neighbors pulled him out from the building rubble. Taha was one of the first people rescued from the collapsed apartment and was soon moved to his aunt’s house nearby. About 10 hours after the earthquake, Taha’s parents and siblings were also dramatically rescued.

It was only after Taha’s father Ali (47), who works as a janitor at a hospital, was moved to the house of his wife Zeila’s (37) younger sister that they learned Taha had been rescued. In an interview with the Associated Press, Zeila said, “At that moment, the world felt like mine. I have nothing, but at least I have my children,” unable to hide her emotion.

Currently, Taha’s family is reported to be staying in a temporary shelter provided by the government. In southern T?rkiye and northern Syria, millions of disaster victims like them have barely survived but are still facing difficult circumstances.