Container homes from Qatar, other countries on their way to Türkiye

Containers for quake victims in Türkiye from Qatar and other countries are on their way, the Turkish transport and infrastructure minister has said.

Adil Karaismailoglu said on Friday at a news conference in Adiyaman province that containers will arrive at Turkish ports and will be distributed to provinces affected by the quakes.

"We are working on the transfer of our citizens living in tent cities to container cities," he said.

The first container ships, which were loaded from Qatar and set off on February 14, are expected to arrive at the Iskenderun Port on March 3 or 4, according to the ministry’s data.

The five ships that set off gradually are carrying 1,388 living containers and 627 pallets of humanitarian aid.

READ MORE: Türkiye building container cities for quake-hit evacuees: Soylu

Regarding permanent house projects, Karaismailoglu said works on housing areas and reconstruction of the city will be carried out together and the most important issue on the agenda is beginning to build new houses, he said.

The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude quakes, which were centred in Türkiye's southern Kahramanmaras province, struck 10 other Turkish provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Adana, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazig. 

About 13.5 million people have been affected.  

READ MORE: 'Scientific and fast': Türkiye’s earthquake reconstruction project begins