The number of victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria reached almost 30 thousand

The number of victims due to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria exceeded 29 thousand. The earthquakes, which became the most powerful for Turkey in almost a century, left more than a million people without homes, and more than 80,000 are still in hospitals.

Amazing rescue

Search operations continue, and despite difficult conditions and cold weather in the region, rescuers still manage to pull survivors from the rubble. On Sunday, a man and three children, who spent more than six days under the debris, were rescued in Hatay province.

And on Friday, the media released a video of the Turkish authorities rescuing a 10-day-old baby who spent 90 hours under the rubble.

Meanwhile, surviving families living in temporary camps are asking for help with accommodation elsewhere because of the cold and unsanitary conditions. Reuters reporters on the ground reported overcrowding in temporary shelters, lack of toilets, stench and smoke from fires families were trying to keep warm.

Looting and shooting

Meanwhile, two German and one Austrian emergency aid organizations have suspended rescue efforts in Turkey amid security concerns, reports of clashes and shootings in quake-hit areas. “You can see that sadness is slowly giving way to anger,” Reuters reported there.

The day before, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented on the general security situation, noting that a state of emergency had been declared and there had been cases of looting. “This means that from now on people involved in robbery or kidnapping should know that the firm hand of the state will be on them,” Erdogan said during a visit to the region.

“Catastrophic” situation in Syria

Currently, Martin Griffiths is the UN Deputy Secretary General wrote on Twitter that he is on the Turkish-Syrian border today and that the organization has “failed” the Syrians: “So far we have failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that has not arrived. My duty and it is our duty to correct this error as soon as possible.”

Earlier, the volunteer organization White Helmets, which helps Syrians in opposition-controlled regions, announced the detention of UN humanitarian cargo and called the organization’s assistance to these areas “catastrophic.” They said that the UN should “apologize to the Syrian people for the lack of aid provided.”

As Radio Svoboda points out, the Syrian authorities say that the sanctions imposed against the Assad regime are exacerbating the disaster. The country lacks construction equipment and oil. The day before, the US authorities announced that US sanctions against Syria will not affect transactions related to the provision of assistance in connection with the earthquake until August 2023.

The article uses Reuters materials