KAHRAMANMARAS, Türkiye
A household that survived a robust earthquake in southern Türkiye could have their trustworthy canine to thank, as he warned them of the approaching catastrophe in the course of the night time.
The household canine, named Balim (My Honey), from a Chinese breed, wakened its proprietor up by scratching and howling on the night time of Feb. 6, enabling the Akkurt household to get up and rapidly depart their home simply two minutes earlier than the quake struck.
The Akkurts with their two youngsters have been dwelling in a container metropolis arrange after the catastrophe, when their condominium within the Kahramanmaras province – the quake’s epicenter – was destroyed.
The household, which constructed a doghouse for Balim subsequent to their non permanent home, now spends most of their days with their fortunate canine.
Sixth sense
Speaking to Anadolu, Melike Akkurt mentioned of their canine with a sixth sense: “He actually felt (the quake coming), as a result of he was transferring round like he by no means did earlier than, he saved working throughout. So we went downstairs (and left the building) and survived because of the canine.”
Their canine loves the kids, Akkurt added.
“When there’s an individual who doesn’t like him or is afraid of him, he begins to growl immediately. When the particular person likes him or is happy, he wags his tail and comes as much as them,” she mentioned.
The husband Erol Akkurt added: “With two minutes to spare we took the children (exterior) with us. He prodded us to placed on our garments.”
“Balim saved us. Just then we left the condominium. My daughter, my son, my spouse. Two minutes later the earthquake struck,” he mentioned.
On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and seven.6 quakes struck quite a few Turkish provinces, taking up 50,000 lives.
Around 14 million individuals in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes in addition to many others in northern Syria.
