A councillor who travelled to Turkey after thousands of people were killed in an earthquake has described the scene as "heart-breaking" and like an "apocalyptic movie".
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6, destroying buildings and leaving people trapped under rubble.
Former Newcastle United player Christian Atsu was reported as missing within hours of the disaster. The 31-year-old, who played for Turkish side Hatayspor, was sadly confirmed dead 12 days later.
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Nicu Ion, who represents the Elswick area of Newcastle, visited the country on a humanitarian rescue mission. He flew to Romania and travelled for 24 hours with two other people to the Turkish city of Hatay.
The 43-year-old, who lives in Elswick, said the team of three delivered specialist medical equipment as well as baby products and food. He said they also spent time supporting the rescue teams.
He said: "For 1,000 miles we had different police cars escorting us, we were driving behind them. They provided us with a free passage because they saw the type of mission we were on.
"Once we got to Hatay, which is one of the hardest hit cities in Turkey, it was like a war scene. There's piles of rubble and you can't tell that they used to be buildings.
"We were using a satnav to find our way around the city but in what used to be a street was just piles of rubble. Everywhere you go there was dust from the buildings.
"The rescue teams are having a hard time getting the victims out of the rubble. By the time we arrived, the bodies were decomposing.
"Each time the rescue workers rescued a body from the rubble they needed to have a break just to deal with the shock. They were doing that everyday.
"When you're there you feel like you're in an apocalyptic movie. Your brain has a hard time trying to process and accept that it's real."
People across the city have been left homeless and are in desperate need of help to survive. Nicu claims there were several reports of people robbing others and people entering the hospital to try to kidnap orphan children.
He said: "There's no shops, there's no running water, there's no electricity. There's no possibility of surviving unless someone comes from the outside of that area to provide fresh water.
"Everyone has lost someone. Some were still hoping that they could find their relatives although it's heart-breaking because we feel like there's nothing we can do. The human suffering is very hard to comprehend."
Nicu said he had spoken to people who have lost several members of their family or their entire family. He said this included an elderly woman who had lost her son and her grandchildren.
He said: "When you see those numbers and statistics you can appreciate the level of tragedy but when you see personal stories of individual people, like the Newcastle footballer who sadly passed away, it's just heart-breaking.
"You look at some partially affected buildings and you can see the personal items of that family. You can see pictures on the wall and a table and chairs. You realise that just a week before they were normal people living in a normal house and now everything is gone. You don't know how many people have died in that building."
Nicu, who has previously helped people in war-torn Ukraine, returned to the UK on Friday after five days in Turkey. He said he has still not come to terms with what he witnessed while he was there.
He added: "The emotional responses were so powerful. They were so grateful for us being there. They were crying, they were hugging us.
"What can you say to these people? We're just trying to engage them and trying to give them a smile.
"Even now I've returned I'm still thinking about what I saw and trying to deal with it. It's shocking. It will stay with me for a very long time - for the rest of my life."
Read more:
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