more than 46,000 people have died in Earthquake It affected Turkey and Syria and the death toll is expected to rise, with some 264,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing as rescuers hear signs of life under the rubble.
As Turkey tries to manage its worst modern disaster, concerns were growing over the victims of the tragedy in Syria, with the World Food Program (WFP) pressing authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the region. Do it because it wants to help hundreds of thousands. of people devastated by the earthquake.
Twelve days after the earthquake, workers in Kyrgyzstan try to rescue a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish city of Antakya.
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Three people including a child were rescued alive. Rescuers said the mother and father survived but the child later died of dehydration. An older sister and a twin didn’t make it.
“An hour ago today, when we were digging, we heard screams. We are always happy when we find survivors,” Atay Usmanov, a member of the rescue team, told Reuters.
Ten ambulances were waiting on a nearby road which was blocked to traffic to allow rescue work.
Workers asked for complete silence and everyone to sit or be seated as the team climbed up to the top of the building debris where the family was found using an electronic detector to listen for any further sounds.
As rescue efforts continued a worker shouted in the rubble: “Take a deep breath if you can hear me.”
Workers later called off the search operation as excavators arrived and climbed over the wreckage to clear it.
Turkey’s death toll from the earthquake stands at 40,642, while more than 5,800 people have died in neighboring Syria, a toll that has not changed for several days.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, WFP director David Beasley said the Syrian and Turkish governments were cooperating very well, but that its operations in northwestern Syria were being hampered.
The agency said last week that it was running out of stock there and called on Turkey to open more border crossings.
“The problems we are facing [are with] cross-line operations in northwest Syria where northwest Syrian authorities are not giving us the access we need,” Beasley said.
“It is hindering our operations. This has to be fixed immediately.
“Time is running out and we are running out of money. Our operation is about $50 million a month for our earthquake response alone, so unless Europe wants a new wave of refugees, we need to get the support we need,” Beasley said.
In Syria, which has already been torn apart by more than a decade of civil war, a large number of the deaths have occurred in the northwest.
The area is controlled by rebels at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, complicating efforts to get aid to the people.
Thousands of Syrians who took refuge in Turkey from the civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone – at least for now.
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public health
While many international rescue teams have left the huge earthquake zone in Turkey, domestic teams continued to search through flattened buildings on Saturday and hope to find more survivors defying the odds. Experts say that most rescue operations take place in the 24 hours following an earthquake.
Doctors and experts expressed concern over the possible spread of infection in the region, where thousands of buildings collapsed last week, damaging sanitation infrastructure.
Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday that although there has been an increase in intestinal and upper respiratory infections, the numbers do not pose a serious threat to public health, adding that measures have been taken to monitor and prevent possible disease.
“Our priority now is to fight situations that could endanger public health and prevent infectious diseases,” Koca told a news conference in southern Hatay province.
Aid organizations say survivors will need help for months to come after the destruction of so much vital infrastructure.
anger rises
Neither Turkey nor Syria has said how many people are still missing after the earthquake.
For families still waiting to repatriate relatives in Turkey, anger is mounting over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that has resulted in the shattering of thousands of homes and businesses.
One such building was the Roneson Residences (Renaissance Residence), which toppled in Antioch, killing hundreds.
“It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the result,” said Hamza Alpslan, 47, who lives in the block. “It is in terrible condition. It has neither cement nor proper iron. It is a real hell.
Turkey has promised to investigate anyone responsible for the buildings’ collapse and ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.
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(Reporting by Aggi Erkoyan, Ese Toksabe, Tom Perry, Abeer Al Ahmar, Henriette Chakar, Jonathan Spicer and Suhaib Salem and John Irish in Munich; Writing by Michael Georgi; Editing by Jane Merriman, David Holmes, Alexandra Hudson)