One week after the catastrophic earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the number of deaths continues to rise. The number of confirmed dead is now more than 37,500, and more than 80,000 people were injured. UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths, who arrived in Aleppo on Monday, expects up to 50,000 dead.
In Turkey alone there are now 31,643 fatalities, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Monday, citing the civil protection authority Afad. More than 80,000 people were injured. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of victims in Syria is at least 5,900.
Two Austrian citizens are among the dead in Turkey. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no information about Austrians who are missing. An injured Austrian is currently receiving medical treatment in a hospital and is being supported by the embassy in Ankara in preparing for his return home.
Video: The army packs up and flies back on Thursday
Six year old rescued after a week
Thousands of people are still missing. In the province of Adiyaman in southeast Turkey, a six-year-old was rescued after 178 hours on Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Defense said – another person after 176 hours. Survivors who are now found must have had access to liquid – such as rainwater, snow or other sources. Normally, a person can go without water for about 72 hours, after which the situation becomes life-threatening.
Meanwhile, international aid organizations are ending their operations in the crisis area. The soldiers of the army also packed up in Turkey on Monday, but the return flight is not scheduled to take place until Thursday. The helpers were no longer requested for action on Sunday.
“Rescue is becoming increasingly unlikely”
Since last Tuesday, 82 soldiers have been in the hard-hit Turkish province of Hatay. On Monday, the soldiers of the so-called Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) began dismantling the camp. Rescuing people is becoming “more and more unlikely due to the advanced time,” said operations manager Bernhard Lindenberg. During the course of the day, the soldiers will travel to Adana and “start reorganizing there,” Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis reported to the APA. 43 tons of special equipment including five vehicles have to be prepared for the return journey.
In Adana, the emergency services will be accommodated in a hotel. It is planned that the “stressful mission will be processed with military psychologists,” said Kugelweis. The mood among the soldiers “is good, we are very proud that we were able to save nine lives,” reported the lieutenant colonel. “That gives us a lot of strength,” said Kugelweis, as did the “gratitude of the population, it’s huge. It’s very touching when people who have been made homeless by the earthquake hug us and shake hands, that compensates for a lot of stress,” reported the soldier. He also reminded that there have already been earthquake operations where nobody was saved.
Free flights for those affected
As evacuations continue, the airport in Turkey’s south-eastern Hatay province has been reopened. The semi-state owned airline Turkish Airlines tweeted early Monday morning that residents of the earthquake area could book seats on free flights. The airport in Hatay was badly damaged in the earthquake. A week ago early Monday morning, the first 7.7-magnitude tremor shook the region at 2:17 a.m. CET, followed hours later by a second severe 7.6-magnitude tremor.
In many places in Turkey, however, grief has turned to anger. People wonder, for example, why so many buildings could collapse. The first arrest warrants have been issued, 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 criticized that building regulations for more protection against earthquakes are not implemented. The opposition blames the government for the botched construction.
Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday once again accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for 20 years, of not having prepared the country for such an earthquake. He also criticized the fact that the government issued a construction amnesty in 2018, with which illegally erected buildings were subsequently legalized in return for a fine. “They turned the houses in which people live into graveyards and took money for it,” said the opposition leader. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised Erdogan in a phone call on Sunday that he would supply more tents, blankets and heaters.
Warnings are given against returning to destroyed houses
The situation in civil war country Syria is particularly difficult. There, the aid organization SAMS warned against returning to destroyed houses. In the small town of Djindiris, a few hours after the tremors, a pregnant woman was pulled out of a half-collapsed house with minor injuries, reported the aid organization active in the rebel areas. After the birth of her child she was back in the house. The building collapsed completely during an aftershock. The woman, like the baby, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided earthquake relief convoys for the rebel areas in north-west Syria, but is still awaiting delivery approval. The government in Damascus has already given full approval to bring convoys from government-controlled areas to rebel areas, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday in the Syrian capital Damascus. “We are ready, we are waiting to hear from the other side,” said Tedros. The area around Idlib is under the control of militias.
The humanitarian aid organization White Helmets, which is active in north-west Syria, complained on Friday that practically no UN earthquake aid had arrived in the region by then. According to Tedros, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has given him the prospect of opening further border crossings between the north-west and Turkey because of the emergency situation.
Source: Nachrichten
