The death toll by the powerful earthquake that struck almost 100 hours ago Syria and Turkey amounted to more than 21,000 deadlocal authorities informed
The first shipments of humanitarian aid of the UN They arrived in Syria this Friday, but the chances of finding people alive fade once the three-day period that experts consider crucial has expired.
The elapsed time, added to the frigid temperatures of the region, turn the rescues into something close to a miracle, like that of the young Turk Melda Adtasfound alive 80 hours after the quake.
The 16 year old girl got trapped in some kind of deep well under a collapsed building in the city of antakya. Thanks to the notice of the neighbors who heard her weak voice, she could be found and saved.
“God bless you! God bless you all!”exclaimed her father crying with joy as rescue teams pulled his daughter out of the ruins.
In a region already battered by the civil war in syria and the displacement of millions of people, the magnitude 7.8 earthquake surprised many.
The boss of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusand the humanitarian officer of the UN, Martin GriffithsThey announced that they will visit the area soon.
The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaricis already in Aleppo, In Syria. “Communities that suffered years of fierce fighting now find themselves maimed by the earthquake”, he tweeted.
The war destroyed hospitals and problems continue in the electricity and water supply in Syria, but the UN can only send aid to the rebel areas in the northwest through the crossing of Bab al-Hawa on the border with Turkey.
The UN Secretary General, Anthony Guterresasked the Security Council that authorizes the opening of new humanitarian aid passages between both countries.
“This is the time for unity, not the time to politicize or divide. It is obvious that we need massive support,” he stated.
Beyond the gloomy human balance sheet, the financial rating agency Fitch estimated that the economic damages from the earthquake will exceed 2,000 million dollars and probably reach 4,000 million.
The earthquake is the most important in Turkey since 1939, when 33,000 people died in the eastern province of Erzincan.
For now, the provisional balance stands at 21,051 people, 17,674 in Turkey and 3,377 in Syriabut experts consider that the balance will still rise significantly.
The low temperatures aggravate the situation both for the possible people trapped in the rubble and for the survivors, who cannot find beds in the shelters set up in gyms or mosques or who prefer to sleep in cars and tents than return to their homes.
Anger grows in Turkey against the government response, judged insufficient and late. the same president Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged “deficiencies” in management.
“The people who didn’t die in the quake have been left to die in the cold.”, he said to the AFP Hakan Tanriverdi in the province of Adiyaman, one of the hardest hit areas.
Despite the difficulties, thousands of local and international first responders continue to search for survivors.
In the devastated Turkish municipality of nurdaginear the epicenter, rescue teams used drones and thermal detection cameras and asked those present to be silent when they found a possible survivor.
“The silence is distressing. We don’t know what to expect”, recognized Emre, a neighbor who was waiting next to a collapsed building on the main street of the town.
Dozens of countries, from China to the United States, have promised aid to Turkey, which will also receive 1,780 million from the World Bank to assist in humanitarian care and recovery.
(With information from AFP)
Keep reading:
Six people were rescued alive from the rubble of a building in Turkey 68 hours after the earthquake
The impressive satellite images of before and after the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria
Losses from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria could reach 4,000 million dollars
Source-www.infobae.com