EXCLUSIVE: British film star to go to Turkey to aid earthquake victims

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I’ll be there as long as it takes’: British gangster film star Tamer Hassan vows to travel to Turkey to help earthquake victims as he reveals his family ‘just don’t know’ whether their relatives have been found

• READ MORE: How to help survivors from sending cash to Red Cross, Oxfam and Islamic Relief to donating blood and sharing updates 

British gangster movie star Tamer Hassan said he would be in Turkey within 48 hours and stay ‘as long as it takes’ to pull victims of devastating earthquakes from the rubble. 

Mr Hassan fought back tears as he revealed members of his own family are lost in the natural disaster that has claimed more than 21,000 lives in Turkey and Syria so far.

The London-born Turkish-Cypriot whose daughter Belle is a Love Island star, is now leading a campaign to raise £100,000 to help with the humanitarian crisis. He is already filling lorries with aid and will be following the convoy to the crisis-hit region.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline Mr Hassan said he plans to be on the ground in Turkey within 48 hours.

He said he ‘just [doesn’t] know’ whether his relatives have been found or not, saying he was already assisting with rescue efforts from his current home in Cyprus.

British-Turkish gangster movie star Tamer Hassan plans to be on the ground in Turkey within 48 hours

Desperate search efforts are ongoing in Turkey and Syria to rescue survivors trapped under heaps of rubble

Mr Hassan, 54 was born in New Cross, south-east London, but considers Turkey to be his ‘mother country’. He is using his profile trying to raise money online ‘to help those in need’ and will be travelling to the crisis-hit region from Cyprus, where he is currently staying.

The boxer turned actor hit the big time in his thirties when he starred in The Football Factory with Danny Dyer, then Layer Cake with Daniel Craig and also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. His TV work includes NCIS and Game of Thrones.

Mr Hassan praised the efforts of volunteers as he pledged to stay in the disaster zone for ‘as long as it takes.’

He said: ‘It’s just like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and I’ve felt a calling for me, that I have to come and try and use my platform as best I can. I just need to go there and put my hand in the rocks.

‘I intend to be there as long as it takes – days, weeks, months, years. I have totally committed myself to this humanitarian cause. 

‘Even when I do eventually come away, I’ll still be rallying around and making sure aid and supplies are being delivered. 

Charles, Camilla, Kate and William make personal donations to Turkish earthquake relief fund after Royals were ‘horrified by harrowing images’ 

‘It’s one thing that someone survives the earthquake itself but then we’ve got to keep them alive by making sure they have everything they need.’

Describing the response in Cyprus, he said: ‘Every single person I’ve come across is making an amazing effort by helping and working for free around the clock. 

‘There are lorries going in and out of depots all over the island and we’re constantly helping to load and unload them with supplies. I’m very proud of Cyprus.

‘The response gives you faith in humanity – it’s comforting and warming to my heart that everyone rallies around, holds hands and comes together at times like these. 

‘People see disasters like these differently to war or political conflicts, everything else just goes out the window and people will drop everything to help. Everyone is a neighbour.’

Desperate search efforts are ongoing in Turkey and Syria to rescue survivors trapped under heaps of rubble – but as the relief effort enters its fourth day, it is becoming increasingly unlikely to find people alive.

A picture on Hassan’s Instagram story today showing lorries filled with aid heading to the crisis-hit region

The film star previously told Instagram followers in a post shared by fellow stars: ‘I’m going to put my hands under the rocks and try to pull the people out. I’m calling the whole world to help. Send what you can. They need everything. They need us badly. They have nothing’. 

He has set up a GoFundMe page, adding: ‘I’ll let you know where your money is being spent. We’re spending our own money. We’re going out there to do everything they can’.

It came as Turkish communities and businesses in the UK donated goods, services and money to help with the relief effort. Famous names including Ayda Field, the American-Turkish wife of Robbie Williams, took to social media to try to raise cash for UNICEF.

She said: ‘My father’s homeland…Devastated to hear about the horrendous earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. My heart is so heavy. My prayers are with all of those affected by this tragedy’.

Many thousands of British-Turks and Syrians are also fundraising, including many London restaurants who are donating their profits over the coming days. Mr Hassan’s fundraising posts have been shared by Omid Djalili, Conor Benn and Dani Dyer – the daughter of his old friend Danny Dyer.

Mr Hassan tried not to cry as he told Sky News last night: ‘We have family missing. Due to the cold weather, we’re not hopeful… we’re quite worried. I have no words. We’re all devastated. We have family that are lost. I’ll be heading to Turkey, we’re trying to find a route in to the worst affected areas’.

‘We’re broken’: British gangster film legend Tamer Hassan chokes back tears as he reveals he and Love Island star daughter Belle have lost family in Turkish earthquake 

 

Among those displaced by the tragedy are relatives of Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu, whose extended family has been forced to sleep outside after their homes were damaged or destroyed. 

While Manchester City star Ilkay Gündogan has donated two truckloads of bread to the areas most affected by the disaster in Turkey, where his parents and other relatives are from.

More than 23million people have suffered because of the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes this week. The death toll has hit 17,100 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.

Tamer, who is the father of Love Island star Belle Hasaan, was speaking from Cyprus, where he has been raising money and gathering supplies to take to Turkey. 

He said: ‘There are some areas there that have been completely flattened with no help. We’re holding our hands out for people to help as much as they can.’

Rescuers search on a destroyed building in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey. 17,100 are dead

Heartbreaking: British-Turkish actor Tamer Hassan broke down on Sky News on Wednesday as he revealed his family are lost in the rubble of the Turkish earthquake

Family: Tamer is the father of Love Island star Belle Hassan (pictured left and right) and was speaking from Cyprus, where he has been raising money and gathering supplies to take to Turkey

Mr Hassan between Daniel Craig and Tom Hardy (far left) in Layer Cake

An aerial view of collapsed buildings as search and rescue efforts continue after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey (pictured) and Syria

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

A little boy trapped in the rubble sips water from a bottle cap

Tamer then hit out at the Turkish government’s response to the crisis as he continued: ‘My biggest fear is that people will start turning on each other. 

‘The government aren’t doing enough. They need to step up and do a lot more for us and unite as one so we can all help as much as we can. We just need help from all over the world and we need to unite as a family.

‘It’s devastating for all of us. We’re all broken and trying to do the best that we can. We need the government to send the army in and stand up for their people

‘This humanitarian disaster is like nothing we’ve ever seen and I hope we never see it again in our lifetime. My heart goes out to everyone else who’s lost someone.’ 

Ekin-Su Culculoglu has revealed that some of her extended family have been forced to sleep outside after a devastating earthquake hit parts of Turkey and Syria.

The Love Island winner, 28, who is of Turkish origin and lived in Istanbul for two years, said some of her extended family have been caught up in Monday’s disaster.

She appeared on Sky News on Tuesday to discuss the earthquake and explained that members of her extended family have been forced to sleep outside following the disaster.

During her televised appearance from her Essex home, Ekin-Su admitted it has been a ‘scary’ time for her as she threw her support behind relief efforts. 

Emotional: The Football Factory star, 54, choked back tears as he explained, ‘We have family missing. Due to the cold weather, we’re not hopeful… we’re quite worried’

Danny Dyer and his friend Tamer Hassan in 2005 movie The Business

40-year-old Selma Hasar is rescued from the rubbles at Odabasi Defne Ogretmenler (Teachers) Residential Site 80 hours after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces of Turkey and Syria

Belle Hassan and her father Tamer leave a London party in 2019

She said: ‘I have members of my family who have obviously experienced the shake, they’ve been outside, they’ve been sleeping outside. 

READ MORE: How to help survivors from sending cash to donating blood and sharing updates 

 

‘It’s scary because it’s people who are very close to me. I’ve had numerous people on Instagram reach out to me, they’ve sent me locations of an address, pictures live. They are screaming for help.

‘I want to use my platform as much as I can to help anyone out there from Syria and Turkey.’

Ekin-Su, who has taken part in an appeal video for the British Red Cross, said she has donated money to rescue efforts and wants to go to Turkey at the ‘first opportunity’ with the charity.

She said: ‘As soon as the opportunity is given to me, I am there. Obviously it’s my home, it’s my second language. Anything I can do, I’m there to support anyone. So first opportunity, I’ll be there.’ 

‘Anyone in the UK or whoever was following me [on Instagram] from whatever I was on before, I just want to shout here again, please help. We’ve got children, families, friends desperately in need of your help,’ she continued.

‘I cannot emphasise this more. It’s really sad, it’s really heartbreaking. We are a nation, we are in this together. I am lost for words, it’s my hometown, it’s my country.’

Ekin-Su was born in Islington, London, to Turkish parents Sezer and Zekai and lived in Istanbul while starring on Turkish television shows, before moving back to the UK. Her parents relocated to the UK and she also has a younger brother Arda.

Speaking about her firsthand experience living in the country, she admitted she was ‘always in fear’ of earthquakes during her two-year stint residing in Istanbul.

She said: ‘I always lived in fear when I lived in Istanbul, but the fact that this has hit many cities and it has affected a big area of Turkey and Syria is so devastating.’

Shock: Ekin-Su Culculoglu has revealed that her family have been forced to sleep outside after a devastating earthquake hit parts of 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

Ekin-Su, who has taken part in an appeal video for the British Red Cross, said she has donated money to rescue efforts and wants to go to Turkey at the ‘first opportunity’ with the charity.

She said: ‘As soon as the opportunity is given to me, I am there. Obviously it’s my home, it’s my second language. Anything I can do, I’m there to support anyone. So first opportunity, I’ll be there.’ 

‘Anyone in the UK or whoever was following me [on Instagram] from whatever I was on before, I just want to shout here again, please help. We’ve got children, families, friends desperately in need of your help,’ she continued.

‘I cannot emphasise this more. It’s really sad, it’s really heartbreaking. We are a nation, we are in this together. I am lost for words, it’s my hometown, it’s my country.’

Ekin-Su was born in Islington, London, to Turkish parents Sezer and Zekai and lived in Istanbul while starring on Turkish television shows, before moving back to the UK. Her parents relocated to the UK and she also has a younger brother Arda.

Speaking about her firsthand experience living in the country, she admitted she was ‘always in fear’ of earthquakes during her two-year stint residing in Istanbul.

She said: ‘I always lived in fear when I lived in Istanbul, but the fact that this has hit many cities and it has affected a big area of Turkey and Syria is so devastating.’

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria have continued their search for survivors trapped inside the ruins of their homes brought down by the devastating quake.

Against all the odds, search teams were still pulling people from the rubble on Wednesday more than 48 hours after the initial 7.8-magnitude quake. This included an entire Syrian family who were found alive after days trapped in freezing darkness.

Miraculous videos have emerged showing children being found by rescue teams across the devastated region, and pulled from wrecks of buildings covered in dust, but alive. On Tuesday, a newborn baby was saved – still attached to her dead mother.

Rescuers also pulled a three-year-old boy, Arif Kaan, from beneath the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Kahramanmaras, a city near the epicentre.

A few hours later, rescuers pulled 10-year-old Betul Edis from the rubble of her home in the city of Adiyaman. Amid applause from onlookers, her grandfather kissed her and spoke softly to her as she was loaded on an ambulance.

Hard work: Against all the odds, search teams were still pulling people from the rubble on Wednesday more than 48 hours after the initial 7.8-magnitude quake

However, scores more are thought to be still alive underneath huge piles of concrete and twisted metal, and the WHO has warned that time is running out for the thousands injured and those still feared trapped. 

More than 90 per cent of earthquake survivors are rescued within the first three days, said Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London.

‘Generally, earthquakes do not kill people, collapsing infrastructure kills people,’ said Kelman, who has published research on quake rescue responses.

The most pressing factor is getting medical attention to people crushed under collapsed buildings before ‘their bodies fail’ or they bleed out, he said.

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