The Syrian Kenefdi family from Goirle has lost dozens of relatives in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. “How much exactly we don’t know yet,” says eldest son Mostafa. “But we know for sure about fifty people.” Many other family members are missing or are still under the rubble.
Father Abdulrhman (53), mother Jawhara (47) and 24-year-old Mostafa have been living between hope and fear for days and try to absorb every bit of news. Their other son, Said (21), lives in Belgium. “We haven’t slept in two days,” the son tells the NOS. “I just don’t believe it, it’s like we’re dreaming.”
Father and mother sit quietly on the couch, while the son speaks in a soft voice. They prefer not to be photographed, the sadness is too great for that. “My mother has been crying nonstop for the last few days,” says Mostafa with a lump in his throat. “She has received sedatives from the doctor.”
The family is originally from Latakia, a coastal town in northern Syria, and has been living in Goirle since 2015. The rest of the family, which consists of more than three hundred people, also comes from the Latakia area. That is mainly related to mother Jawhara.
When the civil war broke out, the whole family fled. A small part found its way to Europe, the rest crossed the border with Turkey. Most of the family settled in different places in Hatay, which is now heavily affected by the earthquakes.
“The youngest was two years old. And a cousin was pregnant.”
They received the news of their family’s fate from an uncle who lives in Istanbul. “We can’t get in direct contact with relatives in Hatay. We heard the names from my uncle,” says Mostafa. “This afternoon another uncle of mine was pulled out from under the rubble. Also deceased.”
The other deceased are also uncles, aunts, cousins and children. “The youngest was two years old. And a cousin was pregnant.”
“Really everything is flat, residential buildings, hospitals, schools, really everything,” says Mostafa. Some people in the family were able to run out in time. Among them also the parents of Jawhara, her brother with his wife and children and a sister with husband and children.
“We only know that they now live on the street and try to keep themselves warm with a fire.”
“My grandfather has a broken arm and my grandmother has something wrong with her leg,” says the son. “And my aunt got something on her head. We are now trying to arrange first aid, but we don’t know how to go about it. We only know that they are now living on the street and trying to keep themselves warm with a fire. They lost everything, they ran out in their pajamas. Now they have nowhere to go.”
Other family members are still under the rubble. For example, Mostafa knows that two of his nieces with three children and another niece who stayed with them are under the rubble.
“And two days have already passed, without water, without food. Then it’s done.”
He doesn’t know if they are alive, but he fears the worst. “My uncle says the whole building is down. Then we know enough, they don’t stand a chance anymore. And two days have passed already, without water, without food. Then it’s done.”
The Kenefdi family is at a loss because the family does not know how to offer help. All they can do now is keep an eye on their phone all the time. “We hope for a phone call in which we hear that first aid can be offered to my grandparents.”
They are unable to send money or other help themselves. “Our situation here is not like that,” says Mostafa. “We would prefer to bring the family who saved it to the Netherlands, because they no longer have a life there.”
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