Antakya, Feb. 7 (BNA): Rescue teams worked early today, Tuesday, to free people trapped under the rubble of buildings in southern Turkey, as the death toll in the country as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred the previous day rose to nearly 3,000.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit neighboring Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling entire apartment blocks, destroying hospitals, and leaving thousands of people injured or homeless.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in its latest statement that nearly 8,000 people were rescued from 4,758 buildings destroyed in the earthquakes the previous day.
Disaster and Emergency Management Chief Yunus Sezer said 2,921 people had died in Turkey as aftershocks continued to shake the region. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said that another 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Turkey on Tuesday.
An all-night search for survivors was hampered by severe winter weather. A woman’s voice calling for help was heard under a pile of rubble in the southern province of Hatay. Nearby, was the lifeless body of a small child.
Crying in the rain, a resident who gave his name as Deniz folded his hands in despair.
“They are making noises, but no one is coming,” he said. “We’re destroyed, we’re destroyed. Oh my God…they’re calling out. They say, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them.” How will we save them? There has been no one since morning.”
Temperatures dropped near freezing overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under the rubble or left homeless.
In Kahramanmaras, north of Hatay, entire families gather around bonfires and wrap themselves in blankets to keep warm.
“We barely managed to get out of the house,” said Nesit Guler, who was huddled around the fire with his four children. “Our situation is a disaster. We are hungry and thirsty. It is miserable.”
The quake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the largest earthquake recorded worldwide by the US Geological Survey since the remote South Atlantic earthquake in August 2021.
It was the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since the 1999 earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people. Nearly 16,000 people were reported injured in Monday’s quake.
At least 1,444 people have been killed in Syria and some 3,500 wounded, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue workers in the rebel-held northwest.
Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the most affected cities in southern Turkey, and the homes of millions of people, have hampered efforts to assess and address the impact.
In the Turkish city of Iskenderun, rescuers climbed up an enormous pile of debris that was once part of the intensive care unit of a state hospital, searching for survivors. Health workers did their best to deal with the new rush of infected patients.
“We have a patient who was operated on but we don’t know what happened,” said Tolin, a woman in her 30s, who was standing outside the hospital, wiping away her tears and praying.
In Syria, the effects of the earthquake were compounded by the devastation of more than 11 years of civil war.
A senior UN humanitarian official said fuel shortages and harsh winter weather were also creating obstacles to his response.
“The infrastructure is damaged and the roads that we used to use for humanitarian work have been damaged, and we have to be creative in how to reach people … but we are working hard,” Mustafa Benlamlih, the UN Resident Coordinator, told Reuters. In an interview via video link from Damascus.
HF