In an exclusive interview with BBC Pidgin, a Nigerian man, Emmanuel Olaitan Johnson, one of the survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which has claimed the lives of over 2000 people in Turkey and northwest of Syria, has narrated how he managed to escape with his family.
Johnson disclosed that he was in his apartment in Gaziantep when the entire building started shaking around 4:17 am. Initially, Johnson didn’t know it was an earthquake because, according to him it has become a norm for buildings to shake in that part of the country. However, the moment he noticed cracks on the walls of his room, he took action.
He said he grabbed his kid and his wife and fled the apartment the moment he saw the cracks on the wall. He said he was not fully dressed and his kid had no shoe on but the first thought that crossed his mind was to run out of the building.
Johnson noted that his wife, kids and himself were only wearing singlets and shorts when they ran out of the building and went outside in the snow. “Na only boxers and singlet we wia. So, I had to run back to the house to pick up one or two for my family due to the heavy cold”. –he said.
After running out with his family, he said he had to go back to his apartment to grab one or two things. He noted that it was extremely cold outside due to snow and his kid did not have any shoe, so he went back to the apartment to grab a pair of shoes for his kid and also get a few documents before the building eventually collapsed.
“Before my house collapsed, I quickly ran into the house about two times to get shoes for myself, my wife and my child and also grab some documents from the house.” –he noted.
Johnson added that he has been living in the apartment for over 10 years with his family. He said he has now moved into his friend’s house with his family.
