l
Two Ugandan women are missing after their flat in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir collapsed during a devastating earthquake that hit the southern part of the country and northern Syria on Monday, causing the death of at least 19,700 people so far.
The identities of the two women are not yet known, Uganda’s ambassador to Turkey, Nusura Tiperu, said in a statement.
They lived in the same building with two other Ugandan women who survived.
Turkish authorities were also able to rescue another Ugandan in the city of Malatya from his collapsed flat yesterday. Karara Ashraf is a graduate of Inonu university and was working as a teacher and model.
He is currently admitted at Malatya Yesilyurt Hasan Malik State hospital.
Three other Ugandans are stranded in the city of Gaziantep and are taking shelter in cars. A fourth is said to have left for another city.
Uganda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem said many Ugandans do not register with their embassies when they travel abroad but estimates that up to 6,000 of them are in the country.
Most are said to be living in the cities of Istanbul, Konya, Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya, which are considered safe.