Syrian refugee who lost 25 relatives in earthquake says ‘fate caught up with us’

Amhad Idris has spoken out about his heartbreak, after visiting a morgue in Saraqib, where his family members lay at rest

A Syrian refugee has spoken of his heartbreak after losing 25 relatives in the deadly earthquakes that devastated large parts of Syria and Turkey.

Amhad Idris said his entire family fled his home in 2012 to find refuge in the northwestern Syrian city of Saraqib, which also fell to rebel forces that same year, but said “fate caught up with us”.

The majority of his family was killed when the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the city on Monday, killing more than 20,000 people across the two countries and leaving hundreds of thousands more injured and homeless.

Amhad Idris has spoken out about losing 25 family members after the earthquake (Sky News)

Vising a makeshift morgue – which are reportedly running full throughout the already war-torn country – on Tuesday, Mr Idris was seen walking between the bodies of his loved ones as he clutched his dead grandson.

As he stood over the dead, he called out their names.

Speaking about his pain, Mr Idris said despite everything that has occurred in his life, he “never thought something like this could happen”.

While he is yet to discover if any of his large family had survived, at least 25 have been confirmed dead.

Rescuers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Mr Idris said: “I lost my daughter, two of her sons.

“I mean my grandchildren; my daughter’s father-in-law’s family, my daughter’s mother-in-law and her sons- one of whom had children, a big family, and several sons too. It is a total of about 25 people.”

The city of Saraqib, September 17, 2022, before disaster struck (AFP via Getty Images)

On fleeing the war and becoming displaced, Mr Idris said: “Look at the injustice that pursues us, and what happened to us.

“We came here on the basis of finding a safe shelter for us and our children.

“But in the end, look how fate has caught up to us here.”

The earthquake is reportedly the worst to have hit in almost a century. and has displaced hundreds of thousands of people who now risk dying from hunger and a lack of shelter from sub-zero temperatures, the World Health Organisation has warned.

Authorities have warned that the death toll will keep climbing as rescuers, hampered by a lack of expertise and supplies, put hunt through tangles of metal and concrete rubble for survivors.