A Kent restaurateur is set to join the rescue effort in Turkey after two devastating earthquakes claimed the lives of several loved ones.

A La Turka owner Mehmet Dari, who grew up in a village near Gaziantep, says a number of his remaining relatives have been left homeless by yesterday's disaster.

The concerned 42-year-old, from Herne Bay, says he has struggled to contact family members living in the affected regions since the quakes.

The heartbroken businessman is currently driving through Eastern Europe with clothes, shoes, food and medicine that he will distribute when he arrives in Turkey tomorrow.

“The situation is very bad,” said the dad-of-four.

“We have lost some of the family, some of them are homeless and the weather is bad - people have nowhere to go.

“It’s a very upsetting situation, my heart broke.

"I don’t know how I’m still driving but I’m just trying my best."

Mr Dari's brother-in-law and nephew died in the tragedy.

He believes as many as 20 people living in a neighbourhood where he spends much of his time have also lost their lives.

The death toll from the disaster across Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 5,000.

Mr Dari - who runs businesses in Canterbury, Herne Bay, Whitstable and Ramsgate - hopes to support his family, friends and countrymen as they deal with the fallout of the incidents.

“I have one more day of driving before I reach where my family are," he added.

"I have some clothes, shoes, some food and medicine - whatever I could get for them.

“I think the world could be be helping better than this, they should help all of the people in this area - it could happen to anyone.”

The earthquakes - the worst of which had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale - cut a swath of destruction stretching hundreds of miles across south-eastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, toppling thousands of buildings.

Aftershocks then rattled tangled piles of metal and concrete, making the search efforts even more perilous, while freezing temperatures made them ever more urgent.

Kent Fire and Rescue teams are, together with crews from elsewhere in the UK, en-route to Turkey to assist with the international aid effort.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says 13 million of the country’s 85 million people were affected in some way by the disaster.

He has declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces in order to manage the response.

Through a Facebook post, Mr Dari thanked those who had reached out with messages of condolence.

“I would like to thank everyone who has messaged me regarding the heartbreaking earthquakes in my home country,” he said.

“I am on my way to Turkey to support my family, friends and people of Turkey who have suffered such heartbreaking losses.”