By Canadian Press

Halifax man to fly to Turkey after earthquake to join brothers searching for sister

Feb 13, 2023 | 9:45 AM

HALIFAX — The oldest brother of a Canadian woman missing since an earthquake struck Turkey is trying to rent equipment and join his two siblings in a desperate search for their sister.

The Feb. 6 earthquake has killed more than 35,000 people and has turned large portions of cities in Turkey and Syria into fragments of concrete and twisted metal.

Manaf Zora said in an interview today his brothers Saad and Muthana Zora are living in a car stationed near the building in the city of Antakya, where their sister Samar Zora was staying before it collapsed.

The geological engineer says he will rent a truck and jackhammers in Istanbul on Feb. 21, and plans to make his way to Antakya to assist in excavations if Samar still hasn’t been found.

The 44-year-old Halifax resident says he and his siblings intend on “bringing his sister back no matter what,” adding that the family thinks she is either lying hurt in a hospital or “didn’t make it.”

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The family has expressed frustration about limited help offered by the Canadian embassy in Turkey in their quest to find the missing woman.

Zora says Samar travelled to the ancient city, once known as Antioch, for her doctoral research in anthropology, not long before the earthquake struck. She had been staying on the ground floor of a five-storey building.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2023.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press