Earthquake destruction leaves mourning families burying dead in mass graves

ADIYAMAN, Turkey - Every once in a while, a vehicle arrives at the Adiyaman cemetery carrying the bodies of those who died in last week's devastating earthquake that has taken the lives of tens of thousands and left millions more homeless in Turkey and neighboring Syria.

Relatives of those who died in the tragedy are gathered, mourning the heart-wrenching losses with cries echoing across the cemetery.

"The buildings collapsed, and everything was destroyed.” Bese Tunc, a local resident in Adiyaman (Semsur in Kurdish) told Rudaw.

"My daughter-in-law died. Thankfully my son was saved. but we have nothing, not even money," the distraught woman said.  "The unwashed bodies are being buried here. What a disaster that happened to us. We are now staying in the streets."

According to an official decision, dead bodies whose identities are unknown will be buried within 24 hours.

About 500 bodies are so far buried with cloth and blankets, with a total of 15 bulldozers digging graves simultaneously at the graveyard

While dead bodies in massive numbers are taken for burial, rescue teams from almost across the world search building by building in hopes of finding survivors a week after the tremor shook and devastated the city of Adiyaman.

A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey on Monday dawn, with its impact also ripping through Syria.

Kahramanmaras, the tremor epicenter, and Adiyaman respectively have borne the brunt of the powerful earthquakes in Turkey.

Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in both countries due to the quake as of Sunday evening.