Those who survived from the Richter murders in Turkey they are now forced to survive without a roof and with temperatures that have dropped even to -5 degrees in Gaziantep. The rescue teams in Turkey and Syria continue today in bitter cold to find survivors in the ruins. “The first 72 hours are critical for locating survivors, more than 90% of survivors have been located within this time,” notes Ilan Kelman, a disaster researcher at University College London (UCL).
As operations continue day and night, the new drop in temperature makes life a nightmare for the survivors who have nowhere to go. Gyms, mosques, schools and shops have welcomed survivors, but beds are few and thousands of people spend their nights in their cars or in makeshift shelters.
“Our children are frozencomplains Ahmed Hussein, a father of five, who was forced to set up a shelter near his damaged home in Gaziantep, a town near the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
“We are burning benches”
“We had to burn the park benches and some of the children’s clothes. There was nothing else. At least they could have given us tents,” he emphasizes, referring to the Turkish authorities.
During his visit to the region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted yesterday (8/2) that some mistakes were made in disaster management, as criticism mounts. “Of course there were loopholes, it is impossible to be prepared for such a disaster” he estimated.
Since Monday, Turkish police have arrested 12 people over social media posts criticizing the government’s handling of the disaster.
At least 3,356 people were killed in Hatay province, just over a third of the 12,873 deaths recorded so far in Turkey. This is the worst toll recorded in the country since the 1999 earthquake, when a magnitude 7.4 quake killed 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.
Aid to Syria slow
Overall in Turkey and Syria 23,000,000 people “are potentially exposed (after the earthquake), including about 5 million vulnerable,” the World Health Organization warned.
In Syria, 3,162 dead have been identified so far, according to authorities and rescuers working in rebel-held areas.
In areas where help is slow to arrive, survivors feel alone. In Jadairis, a town in rebel-held Syrian territory, “even the buildings that have not collapsed have been severely damaged. There are about 400 to 500 people trapped under each collapsed apartment building and only ten people trying to get them out. There are no machines,” explains Hasan, a resident.
In the village of Besnaya, on the border with Turkey, Malik Ibrahim digs non-stop in the rubble, searching for 30 members of his family, all of whom are in the rubble. Ten bodies have already been recovered. “Twenty people are in the wreckage. I have no words, it’s a disaster. Our memories were buried with them, We are a people who have been hurt in every sense of the word” emphasizes the 40-year-old man.
Source: News Beast
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