Turkey and Syria
Fading hope: number of earthquake victims increases
British rescue team members search for survivors in Antakya, Turkey. photo
© Khalil Hamra/AP/dpa
More than 21,000 deaths have already been reported – and tens of thousands could still be added. While rescuers continue to find scattered survivors in the rubble, the small wonders are becoming rarer.
Four days after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, helpers are still discovering survivors under collapsed houses.
Despite the freezing cold in the disaster area, response teams kept hearing the sounds of victims desperately awaiting help, a reporter for state-run TV station TRT World reported this morning. “We will continue until we are sure that there are no survivors left,” she quoted a spokesman for the emergency services.
And in fact, the Turkish media are still reporting “incredible survival stories”: According to the Anadolu news agency, five-year-old Mina was rescued alive from the rubble in the province of Kahramanmaras after 89 hours. In Hatay province, two-year-old Fatima made it out after 88 hours of rubble with the help of her rescuers. In Gaziantep, rescuers found 17-year-old Adnan alive after 94 hours. He then said he drank his urine to keep from dying of thirst.
Recovering people buried alive after such a long time is almost like a miracle. Only in rare cases does a person survive more than three days without water, especially in freezing temperatures.
The number of dead in both countries is therefore increasing rapidly, up to a total of 21,000 victims by early Friday morning. According to Vice President Fuat Oktay, 17,664 people have died in Turkey. The number of injured was 72,879. More than 3,300 people have been found dead in Syria so far. “There isn’t a family here that isn’t affected,” said a man who helped dig graves in Kahramanmaras.
Oktay thanked all helpers. 75 countries worldwide had sent teams, said the vice president. More than 8000 buried people have been rescued so far. However, experts fear that tens of thousands of earthquake victims could still be lying under the collapsed buildings.
Flags at half mast
A 7.7 magnitude tremor shook the border area early Monday morning. Another 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the region on Monday afternoon. Because of the disaster, the flags at the highest federal authorities in Berlin and Bonn are said to be hanging at half-mast today. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) ordered mourning flags to be displayed.
The European Union expressed its condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria and promised further assistance. “Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones and with those who are still waiting for news,” said EU Council President Charles Michel in a letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The letter was signed by all 27 heads of state and government at the EU summit in Brussels.
Billions in aid from the World Bank
The World Bank announced it would provide Turkey with US$1.78 billion (€1.65 billion) in assistance. This is intended to advance the aid and reconstruction measures, as the World Bank said in Washington. A rapid damage assessment had also been launched to assess the extent of the disaster and identify priority areas for reconstruction support.
The federal government is working to improve the care of the people in northern Syria, which is difficult to reach. The problem is that the government and its troops have not recently allowed any humanitarian aid into the country shattered by civil war, said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) on WDR radio.
Guterres: One nightmare after another
Even before the earthquake, the only border crossing, Bab al-Hawa, was an important lifeline for around 4.5 million people in the north-west of the country who are not controlled by the Syrian government. According to the UN, 90 percent of the population there were already dependent on humanitarian aid before the disaster. Millions of people displaced by fighting in Syria live in the region. “People are faced with one nightmare after another,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
According to board spokesman Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) is also helping in the Turkish earthquake region. He told “Mannheimer Morgen”: “We have been working in the region around Gaziantep for several years, supporting Syrian refugees and host communities. We can now use these existing structures to quickly help local people in need.” This included psychosocial support and warm meals.
Yesterday, President Erdogan had the parliament in Ankara confirm the state of emergency for three months. The decree was published in the Official Journal – the state of emergency is now in force. The measure covers the ten provinces that were also hit by the earthquake. Erdogan had said the state of emergency would help crack down on those who “create discord and discord.” For example, looting could be prevented.