The Uganda’s Ambassador to Turkey, Nusura Tiperu, has confirmed that the body of the Ugandan woman, identified as Florence Babirye, who died in the deadly earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago has been recovered.
“The rescue team was able to find the body of a 31-year-old woman named Florence Babirye from Lwengo district, and as I speak now, the body is buried in Atai, Turkey,” Ambassador Nusura said.
The ambassador revealed that she has written a letter to the minister of foreign affairs requesting that he allow the Turkish rescue team to exhume the deceased’s body and export it to Uganda for a decent burial.
“What we have done as an embassy is to write to the minister of foreign affairs to allow the Turkish rescue team to exhume the body and repatriate it to the family,” she said.
She also added that they have informed the deceased’s family in Lwengo district about the untimely death of their daughter, stating that they are also working hard to support the other 16 Ugandans who were affected by the earthquake.
According to her, the embassy is yet to obtain the particulars of two other missing Ugandan women believed to have perished in the incident.
The most powerful earthquake to strike Turkey and Syria in nearly a century occurred on Monday, February 6, 2023, killing hundreds and thousands of people.
“Monday’s earthquake struck at 4.17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 18 kilometres (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people,” the US Geological Survey said.
Turkey’s last 7.8-magnitude tremor was in 1939, when 33,000 people died in the eastern Erzincan province.
The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999, and more than 17,000 people died, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.
