The snapshot recorded by the Turkish photographer of the French agency captures without words the tragedy of thousands of people.
The photo that captured the unfortunate father holding the hand of his lifeless daughter while she was overwhelmed by the rubble caused worldwide grief... he himself describes the moments of the tragedy.
Mesut Hancer: "I used to work at night. I was at work at the time of the earthquake. When the earthquake started, I started calling my family. I couldn't contact my family. Then I tried again a few times. Then I started taking my daughter. I couldn't communicate. Without waiting, I went to the building where my mother lived. I went… Night… The earthquake had finished that building. The building had been demolished. Everything had fallen apart. I went to the ruins and called out... Maybe she heard her name... but unfortunately I didn't hear my daughter's voice.
-You realize that your daughter is under the rubble… we see you then, while she is now dead, hold her hand and stay there…
Mesut Hancer: “My daughter was above the waist out of the rubble. It was in the outer part of the ruins. When I saw my daughter in this condition. Of course there are no words to describe it. It's the moment you lose your world. To see at that moment the lifeless body of my child. It's something so cruel that you can't explain it."
-You were recently given a photo…a painting…which shows you now holding your daughter's hand and your daughter being depicted as an angel…
Mesut Hancher: "This was painted by a girl painter from Polis. The girl brought it from the City herself. He gave it to us as a gift."
Mesut Hancer now lives with the memory of his beloved daughter, like thousands of other people who lost theirs, in the tragedy of 7 Richter.
Source: ERT