Hasan Ürek who survived the slaughter in Roboski was wounded and was released from Þýrnak State Hospital on Sunday. Ürek was with the group of civilians who were targeted by Turkish airplanes on 28 December. Thirty five people were killed. The young boy recalled that they had been stopped by soldiers before being hit by warplanes on the way back to home.

Hasan Ürek returned home 25 days after the bombardment of the Turkish Army in Ortasu (Roboski) village in Þýrnak. Recounting the moments of the bombing, survivor Hasan Ürek said that a group of soldiers had opened fire against them at the border when they were turning back after loading the donkeys with the stuff they had bought. Noting that they hadn’t been allowed to cross the border, Ürek said that “Soldiers stopped us when we arrived at the hill with our donkeys. They opened fire into the air and blocked our way. The distant between us and them wasn’t long. I was in the first group, we were 11 people. And there were two other groups behind us, made up of 17 and 18 people.

Adding that warplanes had started to drop bombs on their groups which had already been stopped by soldiers, Ürek said that “The warplanes dropped bombs firstly on the hill and then on us. They destroyed my friends but I managed to escape, wounded with a piece hitting my chin. I didn’t realize that I had been injured on my feet and lost a finger which was later sewed up at the hospital. One of my ears wasn’t hearing during the bombardment because of the sounds of the bombs. I stayed wounded on the snow for a long time and all my hair was burnt by the flames spread from bombs. I don’t know about how long it continued or what happened afterwards. I later regained consciousness for a moment and wanted to stand up but I couldn’t. I don’t remember the rest.”

Ürek stated that he had recovered himself 15 days after the event, adding that nobody had been allowed to see him during his stay at the hospital.