An image of the destruction in Aleppo that Ahmed Aziz – who lives off the Caledonian Road – received from friends in Syria

TRAUMATISED relatives of people caught up in the terrifying earthquake on the Turkey-Syria border have appealed for donations of clothes, medical supplies and money as the crisis continues.

North London’s large Turkish community and Syrian residents watched the news in horror as the 7.8-magnitude quake on Monday brought down buildings and covered tens of thousands of people in rubble. Aftershocks were continuing this week amid rescue operations.

“My sister lives in Gaziantep,” said Ahmed Aziz, who is originally from Aleppo and now lives off the Caledonian Road. “She moved with her husband and her six kids. When the earthquakes hit, I was here, and then I started getting ­WhatsApp messages around 1.30am. They fled to the street because the whole building was shaking. They escaped with the clothes on their body.”

He added: “They ended up in the street where there was snow, and they were struggling to find a place to go inside. Everyone was scared and trying to escape as far away as they could.”

As the shocking stories of life and death in the disaster were told, the Finsbury Park Mosque announced it will be raising money to send in support of those who have lost everything.

“We hope we’ll be collecting thousands of pounds to send to Turkey and Syria as soon as possible,” said Mohammed Kozbar, its chair. “It’s a huge thing, especially in Syria where they’ve been in civil war for more than 10 years, and most Syrian people in Islington are refugees. It’s a very distressing situation for the community.” He added:

“At the end of the day we have to react in a positive way, we can’t let despair control us, we have to be productive. Like what we’re doing with the appeal – all of these things will help ease the situation there.

“We try to explain to the community that, yes, we’re in despair because of what’s happened, but let’s try to do whatever we can to help these people. The response has been really positive, the goal is at least £10,000 and we hope that we can raise even more than that.”

Former Islington youth mayor Rosie Kurnaz, whose family are from Kayseri in Turkey, said: “I haven’t directly lost anyone, but family friends have lost grandparents, uncles, cousins. Even if an individual hasn’t lost someone, everyone has a close relative who has lost someone. We all know someone who has lost another person.”

She added: “Over 15,000 people have lost their lives with thousands under the rubble. What’s even more horrendous is that it occurred in the early hours of the morning, it began at around 4.30am Turkey time, so people were sleeping and inside.

“The last couple of days have been horrible, but everyone’s coming together. In London, the majority of the Turkish communities live in Islington, Enfield, Haringey, and Hackney – all of these boroughs are coming together.”

Mr Aziz said his relatives hit by the quake had nowhere to go and slept in a car.

“Communication was lost because the collapsed buildings have taken away the electricity,” he said.

Since then, Mr Aziz has been able to contact his sister who is living in a tent with her family.

“Someone messaged me from Syria today to say that you cannot imagine how many buildings have collapsed. Even after the earthquake, they are still collapsing,” he said.

Rosie Kurzan

“These buildings have already been affected by the war, and now it’s the earthquake. People go back to destroyed buildings because they have no place to go. Mentally, they will go inside the damaged building because they can get warm. It’s like, ‘If I stay in the street I will freeze and I will die, if we go into the damaged building I might die’.”

Mr Aziz added: “I have friends who have heard voices asking for help underneath the rubble. People are not able to help, they can only use their hands, or maybe a hammer. They don’t have rescue experience. They don’t have the machines to cut the metal bars inside the concrete.

“When I called my relatives, they told me someone was nearby, who was trying to help his daughter underneath the rubble. She was only about five years old. When they got her out, she was blue. He was begging people for a blanket for her to get her warm even though she was dead.

“These stories tell you how much people are struggling and the pain they’re in.”

• You can donate to the Finsbury Park Mosque appeal here: www.launchgood.com/campaign/­finsbury_park_mosque_­trkiye_and_syria_emergency_appeal#!/
Or you can attend the mosque today (Friday) after 12.30pm prayers to donate money in person.