Rescuers managed to pull more survivors from the rubble a week after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria and left more than 33,000 deadwhile The UN warned that there will be more fatalities.
In total 33,186 people died, 29,605 in Turkey and 3,581 in Syriaafter the magnitude 7.8 earthquake, according to medical and government sources in both countries.
A minor and a 62-year-old woman were the last miraculous rescues after almost seven days trapped among the destruction of collapsed buildings in the devastating earthquake of February 6.
Mustafaaged seven, was rescued in the Turkish province of hataiwhile nafize yilmaz was found alive in Nurdagi, also in Hatay, the state news agency reported on Monday. anadolu. both were trapped 163 hours before his rescue on Sunday night.
More than 32,000 people from local organizations are working in search and rescue efforts alongside 8,294 rescuers from abroad, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.
A member of a British rescue team posted on Twitter on Sunday a video in which a rescuer goes down a tunnel cut through the rubble where he finds a Turkish man who had been trapped in Hatay for five days.
Rescue teams are working against the clock as experts warn that the chance of finding people alive amidst the devastation diminishes with each passing day.
In the destroyed Turkish city of kahramanmarasnear the epicenter of the quake, teams dug through mountains of rubble where they recovered a body.
But rescuers complained of a lack of sensors and advanced search equipment, so they must carefully dig through the rubble with shovels or their hands.
“If we had this kind of equipment we would have saved hundreds of lives, if not more,” said Alaa Moubarak, head of civil defense in Jableh, in northwestern Syria.
Lack of aid in Syria
The UN denounced that not all the desperately needed aid in Syria has been sent.
A convoy of supplies for northwestern Syria arrived via Turkey, but UN emergencies chief Martin Griffiths said that much more is required for the millions of people whose homes were destroyed.
“Until now we have failed the people of northwestern Syria. They feel abandoned. They are looking for international help that has not arrived,” Griffiths said on Twitter.
Assessing the damage on Saturday in southern Turkey, when the death toll stood at 28,000, Griffiths said the number could “double or more” because the chance of finding survivors is diminishing every day.
Supplies have been slow to reach Syria, a country with years of a war that has destroyed its health system and parts of the country remain under the control of rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
A convoy of 10 UN trucks entered northwestern Syria through the border post of Bab al-Hawaaccording to a journalist from AFP.
Bab al Hawa is the only point through which international aid can enter areas of Syria under rebel control after almost 12 years of civil war. Other crossings were closed under pressure from China and Russia.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met with Assad in Damascus on Sunday and said the Syrian leader had said he was willing to open more border crossings to help bring aid into rebel-held areas.
(With information from AFP)
Keep reading:
The balance of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose to more than 33,000 deaths
The UN estimates that the death toll in Turkey and Syria will double and exceed 50,000: “It is the most disastrous earthquake in a hundred years”
The WHO said it was “waiting” for new border crossings in Syria for the shipment of aid for the earthquake
Source-www.infobae.com