KAHRAMAMAMARAS/ANTAKYA, TURKEY (Reuters) – A teenage girl was rescued from the rubble on Thursday, more than 10 days after a devastating earthquake hit the region. Hope dies.
A 17-year-old boy was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed apartment complex in southeastern Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, 248 hours after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck at midnight on February 6, broadcaster TRT Harbor reported. rice field.
Footage showed him being carried on a stretcher draped in a gold thermal blanket as ambulance crews lifted his IV drip.
The quake killed at least 36,187 people in southern Turkey, with nearby Syrian authorities reporting 5,800 deaths.
International aid agencies are stepping up efforts to help millions of people who have become homeless. Many sleep in tents, mosques, schools or in their cars.
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The UN on Thursday requested more than $1 billion for Turkey’s relief effort, just two days after committing $400 million. bring the action for Syrians.
The United Nations aid chief, Martin Griffiths, who visited Turkey last week, said the people were “experienced with unspeakable heartache” and added: “We stand with them in their darkest times and stand by them when they need them.” We have to make sure that we have the support to do so,” he added.
Several people were found alive in Turkey on Wednesday, but the number of rescues has dropped significantly.
For families still waiting to retrieve their missing relatives, anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development has caused thousands of homes and businesses to collapse. It is rising.
“I have two children. I have no other children. said Seville Karaabduloglu as he demolished it.
About 650 people are believed to have died when the Renaissance Residence building collapsed in the earthquake.
“We rented this place as an elite place, a safe place. How do you know a contractor built it like this?…everyone is going to profit “They are all guilty,” she said.
About 100 people gathered at a small cemetery in the town of Pazarchik, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) away, to bury a family of four (Ismail and Selin Yavzatmaka and their two young daughters). .
Turkey is promised It investigated those suspected of being responsible for the building’s collapse and ordered the detention of over 100 suspects, including the developer.
[1/7] A man searches the rubble for the remains of his belongings after a deadly earthquake destroyed his apartment in Adiyaman, Turkey, on February 16, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
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Beyond Syria’s borders, the quake hit a region torn apart and devastated by a 12-year civil war.
The Syrian government says the death toll in the territory it controls is 1,414. More than 4,000 people have been reported dead in the rebel-held northwest, but no one has been found alive since February 9, according to rescuers.
Relief efforts have been hampered by the conflict, and many in the northwest feel abandoned as supplies almost always go to other parts of the disaster area, where they are sprawled.
Deliveries from Turkey were completely cut off shortly after the earthquake when routes used by the United Nations were temporarily cut off. Earlier this week, days after the disaster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad approved the opening of two additional crossings.
A spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters that as of Thursday, 119 UN trucks had crossed the intersection of Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salaam since the earthquake.
Meanwhile, 15 relief trucks from Qatar arrived in the rebel-held town of Afrin, bringing in desperately needed food, essential medicines and tents.
“Many people are injured and in need of medical care. These trucks contain the medical equipment needed to set up makeshift clinics,” said the Qatari charity food Security Officer Abdallah Rajab said.
Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the crisis would drag on and said his organization would more than triple its appeal to both countries.
“We have a 24-month outlook because the impact on people will not end in three months,” he said in Beirut, en route from Syria to Turkey.
of potential economic impact The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in a report released on Thursday that up to 1% of its gross domestic product could be lost this year due to the impact of the earthquake in Turkey.
US Bank JP Morgan Estimate The direct cost of destroying physical structures in Turkey could reach 2.5% of the growing domestic production, or $25 billion.
Heavy equipment was trying to clear a pile of rubble blocking many towns and cities in southeastern Turkey, including Adiyaman. Many survivors fled the affected areas, but some decided to stay despite the horrific conditions.
“We live our days on bread, soup and meals as part of the aid sent by people. We have no more lives. We are afraid,” said Mustafa Akan . .
Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar, Ezgi Erkoyun, Timour Azhari, Firas Makdesi, Khalil Ashawi, Hamuda Hassan, Abir Al Ahmar, Jonathan Spicer, and Michelle Nichols. Written by Tom Perry and Crispian Ballmer. Edited by Christina Fincher and Edmund Blair
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