According to the latest official reports, the number of deaths in the territories affected at dawn this Monday by a devastating 7.8 earthquake on the Syrian-Turkish border exceeds 7.800 and there are more than 35.000 injured, while the low temperatures due to the winter season hinder the rescue work.
The death toll in Türkiye rose to 5.894, while in Syria at least 1.932 people died, bringing the total to 7.826 fatalities, the agency reported. AFP.
A World Health Organization (WHO) official, Adelheid Marschang, told the agency that "23 million people are exposed" to the consequences of the earthquake, "including five million vulnerable people."
Worsening the situation, the winter weather with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius (° C), hinders rescue efforts to find survivors who are still covered in more than 2.800 collapsed buildings throughout ten affected Turkish provinces and in Syrian territories, the latter being the scene of the war waged by Western countries of the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO), to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The cold is another enemy of the Turkish side
On the Turkish side, where the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, decreed an emergency for at least three months in the ten affected regions, this to expedite search and rescue work, the meteorological service authority warns that temperatures will drop to -3 ° C, and snowfall is expected in the next three days, which will make it difficult for those who carry out rescues in extreme conditions to save as many lives as possible.
For his part, Orhan Tatar, director of Seismic Risk Reduction of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Administration, pointed out that the number of people affected and fatalities may increase as the rescue progresses, while the forces Turkish armies pointed out that more than 3.000 rescuers from various countries have already arrived in the country to help with the catastrophe.
Dimension of the tragedy in Syria blocked and at war
In Syria, where 300 Russian troops have been operating since Monday to help with search and rescue efforts, they continue to try to pull survivors out of the rubble amid low winter temperatures.
There, Khaled Hboubati, president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, said that "the disaster is great, everyone's help is needed" and called on Tuesday morning for the lifting of the criminal blockade imposed by NATO countries and their allies on the Syrian people in order to be able to use frozen resources in the midst of the multi-faceted war that attempts to overthrow al-Assad.
“We urge to lift the blockade and the economic sanctions imposed against Syria to mitigate the effects of the devastating earthquake, we need heavy equipment, ambulances and firefighters to speed up search and rescue operations. For that, it is necessary to lift the sanctions against Syria as soon as possible," Hboubati told reporters.
Angela Kearney, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) envoy in Aleppo, told CNN that hospitals in Syria are “absolutely overloaded”.
According to Kearney, children are "traumatized" and do not understand what is happening. There are 200 schools that were being used as shelters for earthquake victims.
“In all those schools that are partially damaged, there are families who have abandoned their apartments, left their homes with only their pajamas,” the official described. She added that while aid is beginning to arrive in the affected areas, there is still a need for blankets, food, drinking water, medical care and nutritional care.
"Aid is starting to come in, but it is overwhelming; the needs are so great," he said, stressing that water, sanitation and nutrition are the most urgent needs.
Earlier, Paulo Pinheiro, head of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), urged in a statement "all parties to the conflict in Syria to cease fire so that humanitarian workers and rescuers can reach those in need without fear of attack."
Also, the head of Acnudh pointed out that the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria joined the call for a ceasefire throughout the country, to deal with the humanitarian situation caused by the earthquake.
Despite the blockade from the West, Damascus reported the arrival one day after the tragedy of planes with medical supplies, rescue personnel and even machinery to remove debris from Lebanon, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and India. From Argentina, President Alberto Fernández indicated that the White Helmets organization will send personnel specialized in disaster management to the two affected countries.
