Members of an Islamic centre in Cornwall whose families were affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria are raising funds for the region.
The Cornwall Islamic Community Centre, in Truro, said people from across the county had offered their support.
One centre member told of his concerns for relatives impacted in both Turkey and Syria, where rescue efforts have been delayed.
More than 22,000 people have died, with thousands left homeless.
Mustafa Alkhattab, originally from Idrib in Syria and now living in Camborne, said his father-in-law is in Aleppo, Syria, while his sister is in Adiyaman, Turkey.
He said: “It’s very bad to be honest, especially in the north of Syria as they are stuck between the Turkish border and the regime.”
Mr Alkhattab said his father-in-law fled their home at 4am and 30 minutes later, they “lost their house” forcing them to find temporary accommodation in a school.
“They just escaped in time,” he added.
Meanwhile, he said the walls of his sister’s house have been “destroyed”, adding: “A lot of people are still stuck in the ground, there’s no equipment.”
“We are all us worried about them but we can’t go back to Syria or Turkey…we can send them money.”
Fellow member Zaher Dardar, originally from Damascus, in Syria, and now living in Truro, said his aunt and her family, who live in Antacya, are now in temporary housing.
He added: “Syrian people, we need help, clothes, money, baby milk. People are very, very tired now.”
Hasan Kilic, Imam at the centre and a charity organiser, said people have been “really supportive”.
He said they were trying to help people with “hot meals, food parcels and other essentials in local areas where the earthquake has taken place”.
He said the charity had a “team working on the ground” in Syria, that there were “miracle” stories of people’s lives being saved, but that people were living in tents and in “very difficult conditions”.
He added that he hoped that people’s homes would be rebuilt and they could find safe temporary housing in the meantime.
On donations, he said: “We have a lot of phone calls coming though, not just from this community.
“People very genuinely feel sorry for people in these difficult circumstances and want to help their brothers and sisters on the other side of the world.”
Source: British Broadcasting Corporation
