The deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria claimed the lives of more than 17,000 people. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, updated today (Thursday) that 14,000 people were killed in Turkey and that more than 63,000 were injured in the massive earthquake that occurred on the night between Sunday and Monday.
According to the Turkish president, who is making his first visit since the disaster to the eastern province of Gaziantep, 6,400 buildings have collapsed and critical infrastructure has been damaged.
But while the hope of getting people out alive from the ruins is getting smaller, miracles still happen.
The rescue and rescue forces in the city of Diyarbakır in eastern Turkey managed to rescue an eight-year-old boy from the ruins of a residential tower that collapsed on its occupants.
The boy was rescued more than 80 hours after the earthquake and his medical condition is good.
Earthquake survivors in refugee camps in Syria
But while Turkey is trying to deal with the enormous disaster and international aid missions continue to land on its territory and provide help to the trapped and wounded, residents in neighboring Syria feel abandoned to their fate.
According to a calculated calculation carried out this morning, more than 3,200 people were killed in the territory of Syria, both in the areas under the control of the Assad regime and in the areas controlled by the rebels.
But while the Assad regime imposes severe restrictions on the publication of what is happening on its territory, aid missions from China, Iran and Russia have reached it, in the areas controlled by the rebels almost no outside aid is received and the worn-out rescue and rescue forces such as the "White Helmets" organization, have borne the heavy burden.
In the morning, an aid convoy to Syria from Turkey crossed the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, carrying several rescue and rescue teams and a large amount of humanitarian aid.
The aid convoy crossing the border between Turkey and Syria, photo: AFP
This is the first external aid to the stricken area more than 70 hours after the noise, that is, three days in which the Syrian teams remained in complete isolation, with the roads disrupted and a winter storm raging in the area.
"More than sixty hours after the disaster, there are still many people buried under the rubble," Obeid Ranush, a volunteer in one of the local rescue organizations, told local media while waiting for the convoy to arrive near the border crossing.
"We cannot rescue everyone who is captured, because of the scarce resources at our disposal. We need heavy mechanical equipment, medical and humanitarian assistance of every kind. Everything is missing. I call on the international community to help us. So far we have not received any assistance. We are standing here near the crossing the border to receive equipment that will help us save people who are now under the rubble," said the volunteer.
Destruction in the town of Jandris in Syria, photo: AFP
In the town of Jandris in the Idlib district, close to the Turkish border, this morning they began digging mass graves for the dozens killed in the earthquake.
The center of the ancient village was almost completely destroyed and many buildings collapsed on their occupants.
"The first reason for the rapid collapse of the buildings in the districts of Idlib and Aleppo is the continuous attacks by heavy weapons on the last ten women," said Saria Bitar, a local human rights activist.
"In the eastern province of Aleppo, which in the past suffered attacks of the most terrible kind, the infrastructure was destroyed and weak," he added.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us