Worcester barber fears 50 relatives and friends dead in quake

Ismail Yildiz said he wants to help rescue people trapped by fallen buildings

A barber is flying to help his family in Turkey and believes up to 50 relatives and friends may have died in the catastrophic earthquake.

Ismail Yildiz comes from the southern Turkish city of Adiyaman, which has been destroyed.

The 37-year-old, of Worcester, said it had taken days to get in touch with any of his family and he was struggling to keep track of his losses.

He is taking supplies and food and hopes to help with the rescue efforts.

The father-of-five has lived in Worcester since 2018 and runs a barbers in Chapel Walk.

He said: "For the first two days I could not reach any of them. I was worried what happened, if they were still alive or not."

The number of people confirmed to have died in Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 28,000.

The UN has warned more than 800,000 people are without adequate meals and its aid agency on the ground is warning the final death toll from the quake is likely to double.

Across southern Turkey and northern Syria, millions are homeless, with temperatures dropping below freezing at night.

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There was still no electricity in the area where his family lived, he said, and food and water had been hard to find.

He is making hundreds of phone calls when he is not at work and said: "Everyone is scared, they're just waiting for someone to help them."

Mr Yildiz said he had a big extended family in Turkey and wanted to "just do something for them".

"If I can move one stone it will be amazing for me, bring one person back to life," he said.