Soccer fans in Turkey paid an emotional tribute to the child victims of the recentmagnitude 7.8 earthquakeSunday.

At the four-minute and 17-second mark of the game between Besiktas and Antalyaspor, fans flooded the field of Vodafone Park, in Istanbul, with hundreds of teddy bears and other stuffed animals.

“There are more important things than football. We are going through difficult times as a country. Together we will heal the wounds,” he continued. “I hope we never experience such a disaster again.”

Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Teddy bears and toys thrown on the field to be sent to the earthquake zone of the Vodafone Park Stadium prior to the Turkish Super Lig soccer match between Besiktas and Fraport TAV Antalyaspor, in Istanbul, Turkiye on February 26, 2023. On Feb.6 a strong 7.7 earthquake, centered in the Pazarcik district, jolted Kahramanmaras and strongly shook several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis. On the same day at 1.24 p.m. (1024GMT), a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras' Elbistan district struck the region.

In an alarming moment for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, some fans also took the moment to chant “government resign” in protest at the government’s response to the earthquake, which has killed more than 50,000 people in the region, CNN reported.

The chanting prompted Erdoğan’s government leader Devlet Bahceli to end his Beşiktaş membership and call for future games to be played without fans in attendance, added CNN.

Huseyin Yavuz / dia images via Getty

Fans of Besiktas throw Teddy bears onto the field in support for the earthquake victim children and to commemorate the dead children on February 26, 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 45,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.

Erdoğan, who called the quake"the disaster of the century"in the days following it, has been widely criticized for his government’s response to the earthquake and lack of preparedness in advance.

ans of Besiktas throw Teddy bears onto the field in support for the earthquake victim children and to commemorate the dead children on February 26, 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 45,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.

In Adiyaman, a southeastern city in Turkey, resident Nursen Guler told NBC News that she wasdisappointed with the official responseas she had one son in the hospital and another still trapped under the rubble. “Nobody was here to help us, I have complaints about all the authorities here,” she said. “There are no teams here, everyone is waiting for rescue teams.”

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The Feb. 6 earthquake is the strongest to hit worldwide since 2015, when a 7.8-magnitude quake left 8,800 people dead in Nepal.

To help earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Syria, consider donating to these organizations:The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Doctors Without Borders,GlobalGiving, Save the Children, andThe Syrian American Medical Society.

source: people.com