STUDENTS FROM CYPRUS ARE CARRIED HOME AFTER BEING SLAIN IN TURKEY

Turkish media said that 19 youngsters in the group died, and the bodies of seven Cypriot pupils who died in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey have now been returned home.

When the earthquake struck on Monday, twenty islanders between the ages of 11 and 14 were in the city of Adiyaman in southern Turkey, together with ten parents, four teachers, and a volleyball coach.

More than 21,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria as a result of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, whose epicentre was close to Gaziantep, around 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Adiyaman.

The kids were staying in an Adiyaman hotel that was entirely devastated by the earthquake while competing in a school volleyball competition.

A journalist for Turkey’s NTV channel said that 19 pupils’ bodies had been discovered beneath the debris.

Images from local TV showed that a plane carrying the bodies of the seven kids, two teachers, and a parent had landed in Cyprus early on Friday.

Ersin Tatar, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot statelet in northern Cyprus, welcomed the bodies along with other government and military representatives.

Officials verified the deaths of 16 members of the group on Friday.

The catastrophe has wreaked havoc on the 270,000-person Mediterranean island’s tiny breakaway statelet.

The local administration had called for a nationwide mobilization and rented a private plane so that they could participate in the search and rescue operation for the kids.