‘Everyone has been affected’: UK charity describes ‘race against time’ to find survivors
LONDON: Rescuers and aid organizations are facing a “race against time” to find survivors and deliver aid to those most in need of Monday’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, a British charity said. said on Tuesday.
Following two earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 that struck both countries, Action for Humanity, the parent charity of Syria Relief, the UK’s largest Syria-focused NGO, issued a statement urging everyone in the worst-affected areas to The devastation that befell the life of ,
Two members of his own staff, a medical professional and a Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) manager, were killed in Idlib, Syria, along with members of their families.
Dozens of other employees have lost family members and “everyone has been affected,” the statement said.
“The devastation is beyond words, literally every village and every life in northwestern Syria has been affected,” said Othman Maqbel, CEO of Action for Humanity. “Two of our own team, Action for Humanity families, were killed – a medical professional and a member of our MEAL team in Syria – inspiring people to do everything they could to save the lives of the Syrian people who lost their lives in this tragedy. I lost my life,” he added.
He continued: “They were killed along with family members. Plus dozens of people on our team have lost parents, cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Their lives have been taken away.
“All over Syria, families of victims have spent 30 hours in the bitter cold because they are afraid to stay in buildings that are at risk of collapsing. They fear more earthquakes. The death toll rises by the minute.
“We are in a race against time to find survivors and provide warmth, food, shelter and medical aid.”
Maqbel also said it was important that governments, but also members of the global public, help support the emergency response.
“Syria is suffering from being undernourished and forgotten during nearly 12 years of war,” he said.
“Already this week there was no hospital capacity, just suffering, before this week there was not enough food, just poverty, after neglecting the Syrian people for so long, we do everything possible to help them bound to do.
“We have mobilized staff to provide emergency assistance and are working with our partners to provide a coordinated emergency response – which is very important at a time of such massive humanitarian need,” he added.
Action for Humanity has launched an emergency appeal, raising funds for items such as emergency overall kits, aid for medical facilities, fuel and temporary collective shelters for people left homeless by the disaster.
It is also deploying its mobile health clinics to support those impacted by on-site and health systems already under strain.