Heavy snowfall wreaked havoc on Syrian refugees staying in makeshift tents in Yayladagi camp in the southern province of Hatay on Wednesday (January 9).

Yayladagi refugee camp consists of several concrete buildings in what was once a state tobacco factory, with tents for the refugees erected inside.

Refugees say those who stay outside the buildings are unable to sleep through the night.

"I live in a container room but my family is staying at a makeshift tent. Unfortunately yesterday, due to heavy snowfall their tent has collapsed. They stayed up all night trying to fix it. When the snow piles up at the top of the tent, the tent collapses, it is almost impossible to live inside it. They are freezing to death," one of the refugees, Hatija, said.

"It's cold here, very cold and the snow falls on our tents. We couldn't sleep last night. Nobody could. We stayed up all night and tried to remove the snow," another refugee Mohammad added.

Turkey hosts more than 150,000 Syrians at Turkish camps and tens of thousands of unregistered Syrians are also living in Turkish border towns and villages according to Turkish officials.

-Reuters