STORY: One year on, Turkish quake survivors hard to say goodbye to life in "floating cities"
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 2, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 14, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:16
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of safe shelters

STORYLINE:

The "floating city" of Suheyla Sultan ship docked in Türkiye's quake-hit Hatay province was among two accommodation barges offered by Karadeniz Holding, a Turkish energy company, to Hatay's Iskenderun port to house earthquake survivors, shortly after the catastrophic earthquake.
   
As Suheyla Sultan is being used as a residential shelter, Rauf Bey has been converted into a boarding school for 500 students and 41 teachers.
   
However, according to the protocol reached between the company and local authorities, both ships have to cease operation after June.
   
Currently, some 1,000 people live in Suheyla Sultan.
  
Zeynep Sahin, head of education coordination for the "floating school" Rauf Bey, told Xinhua that teachers live with their families on the vessel, but students, whose families mostly live in "container cities," can go home on weekends.
   
"The six-story Rauf Bey consists of 23 classrooms, computer labs, social areas, and a dormitory with a capacity of 1,200 beds," Sahin stated. "In terms of the educational process and access to resources, our students have no problems."
   
The students on board are preparing for high school and university entrance exams.
   
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake jolted southern Türkiye and Syria at midnight on Feb. 6, followed by a 7.7-magnitude one the next afternoon.
   
In Türkiye, the quakes devastated 11 provinces, killing more than 53,000 people and displacing millions, with Hatay being the worst-hit province. 

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)