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Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: photos show the work of the helpers in the crisis area

2023-02-09T12:39:39.070Z


Dozens of countries have sent aid and helpers to the earthquake area. The work is arduous and exhausting - a car is sometimes converted into a dining table.


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Thousands are dead, tens of thousands injured, but aid teams are still rescuing survivors from the rubble left behind by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

"You have to pave a way like in caving, you have to cut through the building, through walls, ceilings, furniture to get the patient out," said Jan Südmersen, head of the aid organization @fire, the SPIEGEL.

This is also the case with this mission by a helper in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.

Photo:

Mustafa Kaya / dpa

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The assignments are strenuous and breaks are necessary.

Two helpers in İskenderun quickly converted the trunk of a car near the rubble into a dining table.

Photo:

Anne Pollmann / dpa

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Sometimes the helpers have to work with their bare hands.

Sometimes, like here in Hatay, Turkey, there is at least an excavator or crane available.

Photo:

Cemal Yurttas / dpa

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In north-west Syria, on the other hand, the operations are even more difficult.

"We're missing the essentials.

We need big cranes to clear big chunks.

We need heavy equipment to deal with this tragedy," said Munir Mustafa, deputy head of the White Helmets rescue organization.

The members of the Syrian civil defense are on duty around the clock, as is the case here in Sarmada.

Photo: Juma Mohammad / dpa

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After all: According to the UN, six trucks with relief supplies have now arrived to support the earthquake victims in north-west Syria, who are difficult to reach.

Due to damage to roads, trucks were previously unable to reach the important Bab al-Hawa border crossing.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the roads have now been partially repaired.

Meanwhile, people – like here in the city of Harem – are seeking shelter in tents set up by local non-governmental organizations.

Photo: Ghaith Alsayed / dpa

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Help is on the way: A German Air Force Airbus A400M transport aircraft is being loaded with relief supplies at Wunstorf Air Base.

The Technical Relief Agency (THW) Baden-Württemberg sends around 50 tons to Turkey.

Numerous helpers from Germany are already deployed in Turkey, for example from THW, the @fire organization or the ISAR rescue team.

Photo:

Moritz Frankenberg / dpa

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In Germany, many people with Turkish roots in particular show a willingness to help.

Like here in the ballroom of a Berlin hotel, where helpers are collecting clothing, medicine and blankets to be sent to the earthquake victims.

Photo: Maja Hitij / Getty Images

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But not only Germany sends helpers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday that rescuers from 36 countries were on duty.

These Swiss experts and rescuers were among the first international teams on site.

Photo:

Michael Buholzer / dpa

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Helpers from Japan made a stopover in Istanbul in order to fly on to the earthquake region from there.

Other people come from Great Britain, the USA, China, Taiwan, Russia and Italy.

Even Ukraine, which has to defend itself against the Russian war of aggression, announced help.

And Greece, which is actually in a conflict with Turkey, also sent help to the neighboring country.

Photo:

Daniel Ceng Shou-Yi / dpa

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Soldiers from Israel have traveled to Turkey's Kahramanmaraş region, which was badly hit by the earthquake, for relief efforts.

In the next few days, Italy wants to have a naval ship carrying relief supplies to the earthquake areas.

And Cyprus and Bangladesh have also announced that they want to send aid.

International participation is great.

Photo:

RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS

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So far, however, fewer helpers have come to Syria, and the country is more difficult to reach.

In addition, the European Union only received an official request for help from the Syrian government on Wednesday afternoon.

The EU Commission shares this request with member states and encourages them to provide the requested assistance, it said.

Photo: Aktion Deutschland Hilft eV / obs

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Residents and rescue workers inspect the rubble in Turkey's Antakya.

Almost all buildings were damaged by the tremors, most collapsed.

Photo: Yusuf Sayman / DER SPIEGEL

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Anyone who helps, digs and rescues all day long needs to strengthen themselves.

A field kitchen was built for this purpose in Pazarcık, Turkey.

Photo: SUHAIB SALEM / REUTERS

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In Turkey, too, many survivors first find shelter in tents.

Numerous white tents were set up in a stadium in the Kahramanmaraş region.

Photo: STOYAN NENOV / REUTERS

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Everywhere you look - destruction.

So many buildings in Kahramanmaraş have collapsed that rescue teams have to coordinate who helps where first.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acknowledged problems with the initial response to the earthquakes - and promised aid to victims.

Photo:

ABIR SULTAN / EPA

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Donations are collected in many countries.

In Azerbaijan, people even use an arena for this.

"Donations in kind only make sense, especially in a case like this, when reputable organizations specifically call for them," Burkhard Wilke from the German Central Institute for Social Issues told SPIEGEL.

The German Red Cross (DRK) informed SPIEGEL on Wednesday that it had already received one million euros in online donations alone within the first day and a half.

Within 48 hours, the German Caritas charity also received donations of one million euros, and the Unicef ​​children's charity around 860,000 euros.

Photo:

TOFIK BABAYEV / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-02-09

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