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Tamer Hassan breaks down as he reveals he has family missing after earthquakes

The actor said he is heading to Turkey to help with the relief efforts

CULVER CITY, CA - MARCH 09: Tamer Hassan attends the premiere screening of Crackle's 'Snatch' on March 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix/WireImage)
Tamer Hassan has relatives missing after the earthquakes. (WireImage)

Tamer Hassan broke down as he revealed he has family missing after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

The Football Factory star fought back tears as he said that relatives were lost after Monday's (6 February) quakes and aftershocks, which have killed more than 17,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

Some survivors have been pulled from the rubble but hopes of finding more people alive are fading as time goes by.

Read more: What we know about the Turkey and Syria earthquake

British-Turkish star Hassan told Sky News he was “not hopeful”.

“We have family missing in these earthquakes that haven’t been found due to cold weather,” said the actor, whose daughter is Love Island star Belle Hassan.

“We’re not hopeful. We’re quite worried.”

Hassan, 54, is currently based in Cyprus but said he is heading to Turkey to help with the relief efforts.

He also urged others to help Turkey and Syria “as much as they can”.

“We’re here raising money, sending over supplies and trying to find a route into Turkey and to the worst-affected areas,” he said.

“The biggest distress for me is that there are some areas that have been completely flattened with no help.”

Rescuers search on a destroyed building in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Rescuers pulled more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings Thursday, but hopes were starting to fade of finding many more people alive more than three days after a catastrophic earthquake and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Thousands are dead after the quakes. (AP)

“We’re literally reaching out to everyone around the world, everybody that can see what is happening here with this humanitarian disaster,” he went on.

“We’re just holding our hands out for everyone to help as much as they can.”

The Batman Begins actor said that donations were needed as much as manpower on the ground.

“We know that everything is needed from medicine, water, petrol,” he said.

“I’m hearing horror stories about cranes being parked up there without the manpower, people don’t know how to use them.”

Hassan also said he was “frightened” that people would start to turn on each other.

Tamer Hassan and daughter Belle arriving for the premiere of Katy Perry Part Of Me 3D at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, London.   (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
Tamer Hassan with his Belle. (PA Images via Getty Images)

“People are starting to turn to survival," he explained.

Read more: Turkey-Syria earthquake: UK charities launch DEC disaster appeal

The actor said it was his "biggest fear" amid the cold weather and lack of food, water and petrol.

Additional reporting by PA.

Watch: Tamer Hassan discusses his character in Bitter Harvest