Earthquake: Canadian woman’s body found in Turkey

HALIFAX –

The body of a Canadian woman visiting Turkiye was found in the rubble of a building that collapsed on February 6 during the earthquake that devastated the country.

Saad Zora says his twin sister Samar, who is from Halifax like her brothers, was found by searchers Tuesday when an excavator dug through parts of a five-story building in the city of Antakya.

“Samar was found,” he said in an interview from Antakya, an ancient city near Syria’s northern border. “She did not make it.”

Zora says he and his brother Muthana, who flew to Turkiye last week to look for their sister, stayed near the building’s excavation site. He said he was grateful to the local people and the search and rescue teams who helped locate the 33-year-old woman.

“We watched on site the whole time,” Zora said, adding that the building owner was able to help with the excavation by pointing out specific pieces of furniture associated with specific floors of the building.

Zora said he and his siblings plan to donate proceeds from an online fundraiser in memory of his sister to help other earthquake victims in Turkiye’s hard-hit Hatay province.

The 7.8 magnitude tremor and violent aftershocks toppled or damaged tens of thousands of buildings, destroyed roads and temporarily closed airports. The quake affected 10 provinces in Turkiye, home to around 13.5 million people, as well as a large area in north-west Syria, home to millions of people. The death toll has dwarfed 35,500, including nearly 32,000 in Turkiye.

Samar Zora had traveled to Antakya, once known as Antioch, for her PhD in anthropology. She hadn’t been there long before the shaking started.

Her brother said his twin sister is “two minutes younger than me”.

“It always felt like she was the younger sister, but I recently learned that she was the old soul — the old, wise sister — who gave me advice, especially when times were tough,” he said.

“What I remember most was her laugh. She loved to laugh and really had a strong appreciation for culture and Middle Eastern culture in particular, and that started to grow exponentially during her studies,” he said.

“She was full of life and (was) a very sweet, kind person.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 14, 2023.

With files from The Associated Press.

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