No rescue team having yet arrived on the spot Tuesday, the day after the disaster, the inhabitants tried themselves to clear the ruins to save their loved ones.

The man in the orange jacket remained motionless in the middle of the tumult, oblivious to the rain and the cold.

Adem Altan then realized that the man, 60 meters from him, was holding a hand in his.

He began to "shoot" the scene: the father holding the hand of his dead child without letting go, in the rubble and devastation.

Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his deceased daughter, Irmak, 15, the day after the earthquake that hit southern Turkey and Syria, in Kahramanmaras, ke February 7, 2023 © Adem ALTAN / AFP

As he took the pictures, the man followed him with his eyes.

"Take pictures of my child," he whispered in Adem's direction, his voice cracking and shaking.

He left the hand he didn't want to leave for a moment to show the photographer the place where his 15-year-old daughter lay.

Before resuming it immediately.

Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his deceased daughter, Irmak, 15, in Kahramanmaras, the day after the earthquake that hit southern Turkey, February 7, 2023 © Adem ALTAN / AFP

"I was so touched at that time. I had tears in my eyes. I kept saying to myself, + My god, this is unbearable pain +", says the photographer.

Adema then asked him his name, as well as the name of his child.

"My daughter, Irmak," replied the father, Mesut Hancer.

"He spoke with difficulty, in a very low voice. It was difficult to ask him more questions as the residents around him asked people to remain silent so that they could hear the voices of possible survivors trapped under the rubble", says the photographer .

At that moment, he immediately thought that the image summed up the pain of the victims of the earthquake.

Without imagining the impact it would have.

Covered by the press around the world, it also went viral on social networks, shared hundreds of thousands of times by upset Internet users.

Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his deceased daughter, Irmak, 15, in Kahramanmaras, the day after the earthquake that hit southern Turkey, February 7, 2023 © Adem ALTAN / AFP

Adem Altan has received thousands of messages from all over the world expressing their solidarity and their emotion in the face of the grief of this orphan father.

"I think it's a photo that will be etched in my memory. Many have told me that they will never forget this image," he confides.

It either.

© 2023 AFP