Turkey and Syria
Only a few miracles left – More than 30,000 earthquake deaths
A man walks with his belongings over earthquake debris in Antakya. photo
© Shadati/XinHua/dpa
A week after the devastating earthquakes, survivors continue to be rescued from the rubble in a race against time. The international aid is running, there is also self-criticism.
A week after the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria, the rescue workers recover thousands of new victims. There is little hope of finding survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Nevertheless, people were saved alive on Sunday – such as a seven-month-old baby. But these miracles become rarer as time goes by. More than 30,000 dead were officially confirmed by Sunday. The UN fears far higher numbers.
Those affected should now be given the opportunity to temporarily stay with relatives in Germany via an unbureaucratic visa procedure.
Seven-month-old boy rescued
Normally, a person can go a maximum of 72 hours without water. Added to this are wintry temperatures. But reports like this give the rescuers courage: After 140 hours under the rubble, the seven-month-old boy was saved alive in the Turkish province of Hatay, as reported by the state broadcaster TRT. Helpers heard the child cry and became aware of it. In the city of Kahramanmaras, a nine-year-old boy was found after around 120 hours. There were some of those miracles over the weekend.
So far, more than 30,000 people have died in the Syrian-Turkish border area. At least 29,605 died in Turkey alone and at least 3,575 in Syria. More than 85,000 people were also injured in the two countries. The UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths even expected up to 50,000 deaths and more, as he told Sky News in the earthquake area of Kahramanmara. Turkey is now talking about an earthquake of the century.
The Syrian state media has not published a new status on the death toll since Thursday. These numbers are rising much more slowly in Syria than in Turkey, which may also be due to the fact that many victims in Syria could not yet be pulled out of the rubble due to a lack of suitable tools and equipment. In addition, the epicenter was in neighboring Turkey.
UN coordinator admits mistakes
Turkey in particular is being supported by international aid teams. According to the Foreign Ministry, more than 8,000 foreign helpers are on site. In northwestern Syria in the rebel areas, the rescue organization White Helmets received support from Qatar. A civil war has been going on in Syria for almost twelve years. This makes it extremely difficult to help those affected. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Griffiths admitted on Twitter: “We have failed the people of north-west Syria so far.”
Over the weekend, more than 20 other trucks drove to the Turkish-Syrian border to bring goods from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children’s fund Unicef to north-west Syria, among others.
Pope Francis was concerned. He said in Rome: “I saw the pictures of this catastrophe, the pain of the people who are suffering after the earthquake. Let’s pray for them, let’s not forget them and let’s think about what else we can do for them.”
concerns about security
In addition to the already dangerous work between the rubble, another aspect worries the rescue teams: “There is increasing aggression between groups in Turkey. Shots are said to have been fired,” said Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis from the Austrian Armed Forces on Saturday of the APA news agency. After a break, the soldiers continued their work. The Turkish army took over the protection of the unit.
German forces from the Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) and the aid organization ISAR Germany also interrupted their work, but remain on site to move out if there are concrete indications of survivors. ISAR head of operations Steven Bayer said: “It can be seen that sadness is slowly giving way to anger.” Many survivors are traumatized and mourn the loss of family members. The two organizations also announced on Sunday that they would now end their mission as planned. Departure is scheduled for Monday.
risk of epidemics increases
And now there is the threat of disease. “In the regions where people have no access to clean drinking water, there is a risk of epidemics at some point,” said Thomas Geiner, a doctor with earthquake experience and part of the disaster relief team from the Navis association. People are still suffering from freezing temperatures. A reporter from CNN Türk broadcaster said Hatay province had a shortage of heaters. There are tents, but these cannot be warmed up. In addition, mobile toilets are urgently needed.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook the border area early Monday morning (February 6), followed by another magnitude 7.6 earthquake at noon. Since then, there have been more than 2,000 aftershocks in the region by Saturday, according to the Turkish civil protection agency Afad.
arrests in Turkey
Several arrest warrants have been issued in southern Turkey. The accused are said to be responsible for construction defects that would have favored the collapse of the building, reported the state news agency Anadolu, citing prosecutors. Experts criticize that earthquake-proof building regulations exist on paper but are not implemented. The opposition blames the government for the botched construction – there are not enough controls, the criticism is about.
Visa facilitation for those affected
In the efforts to get more help, the city of Berlin wants to set up an auxiliary bridge. The federal government also wants to enable an unbureaucratic visa procedure for those affected so that they can temporarily stay with family members in Germany. The Federal Foreign Office said: “The aim is to make the visa process for these cases as unbureaucratic as possible.”