Danny Taylor: Sheffield man working in Turkey on day of earthquake reveals shock at disaster

Danny Taylor, aged 21, from Birley was on a work trip installing machinery in Osmaniye in the South-East of Turkey, 50 miles from the centre of the earthquake, when the first tremor hit.

He was asleep in his hotel room, the Buyuk Osmaniye Hotel, when he was awoken by the sound of wardrobe doors banging and dogs barking at around 4am. He described the room as no longer feeling ‘solid’.

He said “It probably lasted about two or three minutes, I was extremely confused throughout it.”

Danny said he heard people running out of their hotel rooms and evacuating the building, which is when he started to realise the severity of the situation.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 and affected the Turkish Syrian border. It is known to have killed at least 20,000 people.

After the first aftershock, he left the hotel building and took shelter with the other guests and his work colleagues in the hotel’s security area.

He said “Being from England I’d never really experienced an earthquake before, I seemed to be safe but I didn’t know what the destruction was like in other places.”

People from neighbouring towns whose homes were completely destroyed by the quake were forced to shelter at the hotel. Taylor describes the locals’ fear as they regrouped.

“There was a lot of people crying, trying to get in contact with friends and relatives to see who had survived, but they couldn’t because phone lines were down,” he recalled.

“I was trying to get into contact with people back in the UK to let them know I was alright and to help me get home.”

Danny explained that whilst in Turkey he had made friends with a local taxi driver, who lived in a town 20 minutes away.

“I texted him shortly after the earthquake hit to see how he was, he sent me a picture. The town he lived in was completely flattened,” he said.

“His house was completely gone and he was unable to contact family and friends.”

Danny and his workmates set off to make their way to the nearest airport in Adana in the hope of finding a flight home.

“Initially the roads were really busy, especially at the petrol stations where cars were panic buying fuel, but some parts of the roads were completely empty. It took us three hours to find a taxi able to take us to the nearest airport as everyone was trying to leave,” e said.

Danny described the chaos at the airport as hundreds of people crowded into the building, desperate to escape the danger zone.

He said: “Just before we got there more tremors hit the airport, so everyone had to be evacuated again causing even more panic. Nobody knew where to go or what to do. Lots of people were crying, some were injured.”

After many flight cancellations and delays, Danny arrived safely back in the UK on Tuesday evening.

Describing his thoughts now that he is home, he said: “At first, I didn’t realise how severe the situation was.

“It’s incredibly scary and humbling to know I survived uninjured because day by day the death rate seems to be astronomically growing. Its just extremely scary really.”

Danny continued “My heart goes out to anyone who may have lost family, friends and homes in the earthquakes.”

Rescue missions in Syria and Turkey are still ongoing.