World
Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll passes 19,000 as hope to find survivors fades
Cold, hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on Thursday, while hopes faded of many more people being found alive amid the ruins of cities.
The death toll from the quakes, which struck early on Monday morning, passed 19,000 on Thursday across both countries.
That surpasses the more than 17,000 people killed in 1999 when a similarly powerful quake hit Turkey’s more densely populated northwest.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
A Turkish official said the disaster posed “very serious difficulties” for the holding of an election scheduled for May 14 in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been expected to face the toughest challenge in his two decades in power.
With anger simmering over the slow delivery of aid and delays in getting the rescue effort underway, it is bound to play into the vote should it still go ahead.
Meanwhile the first United Nations convoy carrying aid to stricken Syrians crossed over the border from Turkey, three days since quake struck.
In Syria’s Idlib province, Munira Mohammad, a mother-of-four who had fled Aleppo after the quake, said: “It is all children here, and we need heating and supplies, last night we couldn’t sleep because it was so cold. It is very bad.”
Ilhami Akbulut, 51, is rescued from a damaged building, as the search for survivors continues, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, on February 9, 2023. (Reuters)
Hundreds of thousands of people across both countries have been left homeless in the middle of winter. Many have camped out in makeshift shelters in supermarket car parks, mosques, roadsides or amid the ruins, often desperate for food, water and heat.
At a gas station near the Turkish town of Kemalpasa, people picked through cardboard boxes of donated clothes. In the port city of Iskenderun, Reuters journalists saw people huddled round campfires on roadsides and in wrecked garages and warehouses.
Authorities say some 6,500 buildings in Turkey collapsed and countless more were damaged in the quake zone where some 13 million people live.
The confirmed death toll in Turkey rose to 16,170 on Thursday, Erdogan said. In Syria, already devastated by nearly 12 years of civil war, more than 3,000 people have died, according to the government and a rescue service in the opposition-held northwest.
Sleeping by the roadside
In Turkey’s Maras, people camped inside a bank, taping a sheet in the window for privacy. Others had set up on the grass median of a main road, heating instant soup on fires and wrapping themselves in blankets.
In Antakya, few petrol stations had fuel and kilometers-long queues stretched from those that did.
In the devastated Syrian town of Jandaris, Ibrahim Khalil Menkaween walked in the rubble-strewn streets clutching a white body bag. He said he had lost seven members of his family including his wife and two of his brothers.
People walk along a street strewn with debris as they look for relatives in Hatay, Turkey on February 7, 2023, a day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast. (AFP)
“I’m holding this bag for when they bring out my brother, and my brother’s young son, and both of their wives, so we can pack them in bags,” he said. “The situation is very bad. And there is no aid.”
Turkish officials say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east. In Syria, people were killed as far south as Hama, 250 km from the epicenter.
Barefoot and bruised
There were still some signs of hope. Turkish footage late on Wednesday showed a few more survivors being rescued, including Abdulalim Muaini, who was pulled from his collapsed home in Hatay, where he had remained since Monday next to his dead wife.
Rescue workers dug out a 60-year-old woman named Meral Nakir from the rubble of an apartment block in Malatya, 77 hours after the first quake struck, state broadcaster TRT showed in live coverage.
Barefoot and her faced bruised, Nakir was wrapped in a blanket and carried to a waiting ambulance.
A two-year-old boy was picked out of the rubble by a Romanian and Polish rescue team in Hatay 79 hours after the quake, video released by Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) on Thursday showed. The boy, wearing a striped sweater, cried as he was gently lifted from the hole where he had been trapped.
Emergency teams search for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, on February 6, 2023. (AP)
Many in Turkey have complained of a lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped – sometimes even as they could hear cries for help.
Further slowing the relief effort, the main road into Antakya was clogged with traffic as residents sought to leave the disaster zone and aid trucks headed in.
After facing criticism over the initial response, Erdogan said on a visit to the area on Wednesday operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless.
Nevertheless, the disaster will pose an additional challenge to the long-ruling president in the election.
One official told Reuters it was too early to make any decision on elections, noting that a three-month state of emergency had been announced and that some 15 percent of Turkey’s population lived in the affected area.
“We will look at developments but at the moment there are very serious difficulties in holding an election on May 14,” he said.
Syria overwhelmed
In Syria, relief efforts are complicated by a conflict that has partitioned the country and wrecked its infrastructure.
The UN aid convoy entered Syria at the Bab al-Hawa crossing – a lifeline for accessing opposition-controlled areas where some 4 million people, many displaced by the war, were already relying on humanitarian aid before the quake.
The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, said in Geneva “absolutely everything” was needed in terms of aid. Roads leading to the border crossing had been destroyed, causing delays, he said.
Syrian civil defense said at least 1,930 people were killed in opposition-held northwest Syria.
El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the senior UN aid official in Syria, said 10.9 million people had been affected by the catastrophe.
Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday admitted the government lacked capability and equipment but he blamed the war and Western sanctions.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has chaired emergency meetings on the earthquake but has not addressed the nation in a speech or news conference.
Read more:
Turkey earthquake: Saudi rescue, medic teams arrive to help in recovery efforts
Turkey working to open two more border crossings with Syria to assist aid
Turkey, Syria deadly earthquake could cost $4 billion in economic losses
Abu Dhabi Overtakes Oslo for Sovereign Wealth Fund Capital in Global SWF’s First City Ranking
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Named Among Top 10 Children’s Hospitals in the United States 16 Years in a Row
AM Best Briefing in Dubai to Explore State of MENA Insurance Markets; Panel to Feature CEOs From Leading UAE Insurance Companies
-
World3 years agoComprehensive plan for development of Arab culture to be discussed at UAE conference
-
Entertainment2 years ago
R-rated Winnie-the-Pooh movie brings scary spin to Disney’s beloved character
-
World3 years agoHead of new Yemeni council promises end to war via peace process
-
Business11 months agoKuCoin Delivers Keynote Speech at Green Sustainable Finance Forum in COP28 Blue Zone
-
Entertainment7 years agoNew Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
World7 years ago
Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt
-
Entertainment7 years ago
The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Hollywood’s video game performers authorize strike if labor talks fail