Father his daughter being shaken by Turkish earthquake on monitor

Moment British father’s ‘blood freezes’ as he watches his daughter being shaken by Turkish earthquake on baby monitor – before he makes 12-hour drive to rescue wife and tot from disaster zone

• Father told of horror of his family being in Adana, close to earthquake epicentre
• READ MORE: ‘We’re broken’: British film legend Tamer Hassan chokes back tears

A father has told how his ‘blood froze’ as he watched through a baby monitor as his baby daughter was  shaken at the moment the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey struck.

Lemi, from Hull in East Yorkshire, was hundreds of miles away in Istanbul as he watched in horror when the earthquake hit, and then drove for 12 hours to rescue his family from the disaster zone.

His daughter Katelyn and wife Victoria where staying in the southern Turkish city of Adana, close to the devastating earthquake’s epicentre.

The death toll surpassed 16,000 on Thursday, days after two deadly earthquakes struck on Monday, February 6.

After the disaster, Lemi drove for more than 12 hours to find his family, with his friends back in the UK launching a fundraiser for them. 

Lemi, from Hull in East Yorkshire, was hundreds of miles away in Istanbul as he watched in horror when the deadly earthquake hit

Describing the moment he heard the earthquake hit through the baby monitor, Lemi told HullLive: ‘ You hear a big bang.

‘The baby wakes up and the dog was barking 10-15 seconds prior to it and Vicky wakes up and grabs Katelyn and runs downstairs.

READ MORE: Little boy sips water from a bottle cap as he is rescued, a baby is plucked from rubble 

‘You can hear the whole building squeaking and that tapping noise. When you watch it your blood freezes.’

Lemi said he was woken by his mother who explained what had happened. He tried to remain calm, by when he was sent the video by his wife Victoria, who was ‘terrified’, he said: ‘I need to find a way to get to Adana.’

After hiring a car, the father start the long, cross-country drive and was horrified by the scenes of devastation caused by the quake as he passed.

He said he witnessed ‘incidents where 20-30 vehicles were crashed and there were bodies everywhere. It was terrible.’

When Lemi, a security provider, reached Adana he found his wife and daughter and took them to the city of Mersin, some 50 miles away, where he said the situation is ‘slightly better’.

But scenes of total devastation have been left in the wake of the huge earthquake, which has killed at least 16,000 people across Turkey and Syria.

The family are now staying in Mersin and have described conditions as an international rescue mission gets underway to try and save those trapped in the rubble. 

He said: ‘Constantly there are ambulances and rescue services passing by. Some of the petrol stations have run out of fuel because people are panic buying.

Scenes of total devastation have been left in the wake of the huge earthquake which hit on Monday, killing at least 16,000 people across Turkey and Syria.

Shocking: With many people still trapped in the rubble in subfreezing temperatures , families have been appealing for help in locating their loved ones

‘You can’t really get bread. Not many shops have got bread. According to the intelligence, with the contacts I have, they are switching the main petrol pipes off to protect from future earthquakes if that happens, which they predict will happen, so there won’t be any petrol for a while so everyone’s filling their tanks and panicking.’

‘Mersin is normally a summer place but right now it’s raining and it’s quite cold. Istanbul is snowing and the middle of Turkey is snowing. The weather conditions make it ten times worse’.

The family want to help victims of the earthquake and are seeking donations. 

More than 23 million people have suffered because of the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes this week.

The death toll has hit 16,000 but thousands more are missing.

10.9 million people have been affected by the catastrophe in Syria and 13.5 million people in Turkey, according to the UN and Turkish officials. 

With many people still trapped in the rubble in subfreezing temperatures, families have been appealing for help in locating their loved ones, including many famous Britons from the Turkish communities in the UK, the majority of whom live in London.

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