Teddies for Turkey: Football fans toss cuddly toys onto pitch during match in Istanbul so they can be donated to children affected by earthquake

• Fans threw plush toys of all sizes onto pitch for children affected by the quake 
• Images show piles of toys stacked up on the side of the pitch before the game 
• Toys showered field before match of Besiktas versus Fraport TAV Antalyaspor 

Football fans threw cuddly toys onto the pitch during a match in Instanbul, which will be sent onto the earthquake zone in Turkey. 

Fans threw plushes of all shapes and sizes onto the field prior to the Turkish Super Lig match between Besiktas and Fraport TAV Antalyaspor on Sunday. The toys will all be given to children affected by the earthquake. 

Images show piles of toys stacked up on the side of the pitch after they were thrown onto the field. 

The majority of the toys were large teddy bears, with pictures showing them sat in empty seats before the game. 

Players rushed onto the pitch after it was showered with toys including bears, unicorns, rabbits and other animals, to collect them ready for them to be sent on. 

The toys will be sent to children affected by a strong 7.7 earthquake, which hit Turkey, centred in the Pazarcik district, on February 6, claiming at least 50,000 lives

Teddy bears and toys thrown on the field to be sent to the earthquake zone of the Vodafone Park Stadium

Large bears were left strewn on the empty seats in the stadium 

Football fans took to throwing toys such as large bears and smaller rabbit toys onto the pitch 

Players immediately rushed onto the pitch to help collect the toys ready to be shipped onto the victims

Fans cheered as the toys soared overhead and directly onto the pitch before the match began 

More than 160,00 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey after the series of devastating quakes, with the worst reaching a magnitude of 7.8.

Nine thousand aftershocks are said to have taken place in Turkey since the deadly quake.

More than 600 construction contractors and property owners are under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed in the earthquake. Yesterday Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 184 suspects had already been arrested.

Some have questioned if the natural disaster’s impact was exacerbated by the building of unsafe properties, which experts have been warning of for years. 

In the country construction codes are rarely enforced, meaning that some buildings did not meet the earthquake-engineering standard and resulted in collapsing on civilians. 

Construction experts have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of failing to enforce the building regulations. A failure that has led to widespread devastation. 

The huge teddy bears took up a lot of space in the stadium, each taking up a chair in one of the rows

Images show piles of toys stacked up on the side of the pitch after they were thrown onto the field.

The toys will be sent to children affected by a strong 7.7 earthquake, which hit Turkey, centred in the Pazarcik district, on February 6, claiming at least 50,000 lives

Bears of all different colours were featured on several seats in the majority of rows in the stadium 

Majority of buildings are collapsed or severely damaged in Golbasi district of quake-hit Adiyaman, Turkiye

A powerful earthquake has struck Turkey again amid the nation’s struggle to recover from a series of disasters this month 

More than 600 construction contractors and property owners are under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed in the quakes. Pictured: A collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey on 17 February

Among those arrested was a mayor of one of the towns impacted by the quakes, according to Turkish media. 

Yesterday, a powerful earthquake struck Turkey again amid the nation’s struggle to recover from a series of disasters this month. 

The 5.5 magnitude earthquake took a blow to central Turkey, just days after two further quakes hit the border near Syria. 

At 10.27am, the alarm of a 10km-deep quake was raised by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.   

The eruption was said to have occurred 40km south of city Aksaray and 18km northeast of Emirgazi.

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