Turkish Bulldozer Operator Prays for Bodies So Families Can Find and Bury Their Dead

As his bulldozer claws at the rubble of buildings destroyed by this month's earthquake, operator Akin Bozkurt consoles himself that by finding bodies he gives family members the chance to have a funeral for loved ones and a grave where they can mourn.


"Would you pray to find a dead body?" he asked. "We do...to deliver the body to the family."


Bozkurt, 42, traveled to Kahramanmaras, the southern Turkish city closest to the epicenter of the devastating quake 12 days ago from his hometown of Kayseri, 250 km (155 miles) north, to help with the demolition of destroyed buildings.


"You recover a body from under tons of rubble," Bozkurt said. "Families are waiting with hope...they want to have a burial ceremony. They want a grave."


According to Islamic tradition, the dead should be buried as quickly as possible.


At a graveyard in the city, the thousands of new graves vastly outnumbered those which predated the earthquake, underlining the scale of the catastrophe.


More than 46,000 people in Turkey and Syria were killed by the earthquake and the toll is expected to climb higher.


Bozkurt said that while he was at work with his bulldozer, a father warming himself at a fire by the ruins of his former home asked him to find his daughter.


"He told us, 'Please find a piece of her so I would know where her grave is.' This is really tragic."


"We are trying to find happiness from the saddest moment in their lives."