Turkey-Syria quake| Relief workers need help to rescue more victims

Since the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and Syria at dawn on Monday, hundreds of relief workers and volunteers have been searching around the clock for thousands of people missing under rubble and recovering dead bodies. However, they have been raising their voices to get help amid the ongoing aftershocks, which have surpassed 1,500 so far, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), and amid heavy rains and snow in both countries, which also suffer from a shortage of logistics and equipment.

So far the quake has claimed the lives of more than 21,000 people in Turkey and Syria, while the number of injured reached more than 79,000 people, according to AFAD and both the Syrian government and opposition. Thousands of buildings have collapsed and cracked in both countries.

Aid workers need help

In Turkey, some aid workers voiced their concerns that they found themselves within the crisis, as basic food needs, medicine, and water are very limited in Gaziantep, one of the ten disaster-stricken cities, DW reported.

“We are aid workers, but now we are the ones who need help,” Emad, a relief worker, told DW.

In comments to the CNA, another relief worker described how the situation was chaotic and some rescue team members are frightened by the aftershocks during the rescue missions.

Meanwhile, the head of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) in Turkey, Bülent Yıldırım, was supporting rescue workers on the ground to help rescue four people alive trapped beneath the rubble.

Our chairman, Bülent Yıldırım, is providing support to the rescue workers on the ground. It was learned that four people are still alive beneath the rubble. pic.twitter.com/xwukXegjxU

— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) February 7, 2023

As the quake-stricken provinces (Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Elazığ) in Turkey lack the basic requirements, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that all logistics and basic requirements of medical and food supplies are being mobilized, in addition to working on providing fuel needed for cooking, amid of a lack of drinking water and freezing cold that reached -3°C.

Volunteers killed

Other rescue workers have heartbreakingly recovered the dead bodies of their colleagues who were killed in the quake. Four Syria Civil Defense volunteers (Mahmoud Sharif, Fatima Al-Hassan, Khalil Tokaj and Dhaif Al-Shaker) were killed in the earthquake in Syria, along with their families, on February 6, said the Syria Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, in a post.

ننعى وببالغ الأسى 4 من متطوعي الدفاع المدني السوري (محمود شريف - فاطمة الحسن - خليل طوقاج - ضيف الشاكر) والذين كانوا هم وأفراد عائلاتهم ضحايا الزلزال الذي ضرب شمال غربي #سوريا في 6 شباط.
عزاؤنا لعائلاتهم ولأبناء شعبنا السوري#الخوذ_البيضاء #زلزال_سوريا #سوريا pic.twitter.com/D0vIVZOU7s

— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) February 8, 2023

Also, two members of Action For Humanity/Syria Relief, the UK’s largest Syria-focused NGO, lost their lives along with their relatives in the devastating quake in Syria. The two members were “a medical professional and a monitoring evaluation and learning (MEAL) manager in Idlib.”

“The devastation is beyond words. Virtually every village in Northwest Syria and every life has been impacted,” said Othman Moqbel, CEO of Action For Humanity, said.

‘Catastrophe was much greater than us’

Quake-hit areas in Northwest Syria, where the access of humanitarian aid is limited due to the ongoing civil war, are in dire need. In special comments to Jusoor Post from the quake site in Aleppo, a spokesperson for the White Helmets, Ahmed al-Khatib, described the situation on the ground in the city of Jindires, located 23 kilometers away from Afrin, Aleppo. 

One hour after the occurrence of the earthquake, a White Helmets team rushed to the city, which was mostly destroyed. “Our first estimation of the collapsed buildings was 150 buildings that consisted of 4-5 floors. [However,] all the buildings collapsed over the residents,” Khatib said. 

“Some people were screaming and giving us signs that they are alive. Neighbors were also telling us that their neighbors are under the completely destroyed blocks,” he added.

At the beginning of the rescue missions, the team members were using equipment like air compressors, shovels, and manual scissors. The lack of heavy machines like trucks, bulldozers, and excavation tools represented a big obstacle. “Despite these challenges on the first day, we saved people alive with great difficulty,” he said.

“The first day was the most difficult that we have seen, because we have been shocked and traumatized. We worked without eating or drinking for 15 hours,” he added.

“The catastrophe was much greater than us. We were never prepared for such disasters, nor did we expect them,” he continued, noting that the city is considered a densely populated border area. 

Regarding humanitarian aid, Khatib said that no aid or machines have arrived so far to help with the rescue process. “The work was done by the efforts of civil organizations and volunteer teams. The organizations harnessed everything they had and any equipment to save the victims; they began to provide their machines and equipment to help in the rescue work.”

He added that Thursday “was the most crowded day of equipment and volunteers; everyone was helping and participating. A team of Egyptian volunteers entered to assess the damage and help.”

Food, water and fuel are being provided by civilians, charities and local donors, he said, adding, “In fact, any voluntary work or donation is insufficient. This requires international aid, including equipment and fuel, because there is a lot of great work, and it cannot be covered by donations from civilians or operating expenses for the working organizations.”

Khatib said that the only entity whose members are equipped with protective clothing, helmets, and work equipment is the Syria Civil Defense. 

“The work was all risky because it was difficult amid unknown conditions. The aftershocks were the cause of great fear for the rescuers after buildings collapsed during the work because of aftershocks,” he said.

collapsed buildings by the quake- Photo credit- Syria Civil Defense (White Helmets) Spokesperson Ahmed al-Khatib

Appeal for urgent aid

In opposition-controlled areas in Northwest Syria, where the aid process through the only humanitarian corridor for 4 million people there halted due to the quake, the White Helmets called for urgent international help to rescue the afflicted Syrians and those trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

مناشدات عاجلة من المتطوعين في الدفاع المدني السوري للمنظمات الدولية لمساعدة السوريين المنكوبين والعالقين تحت الأنقاض أوضاع إنسانية كارثية وصعبة جداً مع مرور 30 ساعة على الزلزال العنيف الذي ضرب مناطق شمال غربي #سوريا.#الخوذ_البيضاء #زلزال_سوريا #سوريا pic.twitter.com/6UUVemcRy7

— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) February 7, 2023

“We appeal to all humanitarian organizations and international bodies to provide material support and assistance to organizations responding to this disaster and to help the earthquake victims urgently,” the Syria Civil Defense posted on Twitter on January 7.

There is a major concern about sending relief supplies to quake-stricken areas that come under the control of the Syrian opposition and Kurds.

The epicenter of the quake took place near Gaziantep, where the “UN aid hub for northern Syria - was among the cities affected,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“Snow and rain have hampered the work of rescue teams, whose families are also among those believed to be buried under collapsed buildings,” the UN added.

Also, OCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon told Reuters that the humanitarian aid to Northwest Syria halted to go through the UN aid corridor due to the quake, adding that it is “unclear when it will resume.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters in a press conference that the Bab Al Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria is “actually intact,” while the road leading to the crossing has been damaged, AFP reported on Tuesday.

However, the Syrian opposition said that they reached a deal with Turkey to open two other crossings to allow humanitarian aid access to Northwest Syria, besides the existing Bab Al Hawa crossing, said Bader Jamous, President of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), on his Twitter account on February 8. 

Donations and humanitarian supplies were provided by the local residents in Syria, who donated food to those who lost their homes in the earthquake, said Baraa from the White Helmets in comments to Jusoor Post.

The rescue teams are suffering from a great shortage of equipment while people are still under the rubble on the fifth day of the quake, she said, adding that “there is no equipment to save those people.”

When it comes to international aid, Egypt and Iraq are the only countries so far to have sent humanitarian aid and rescue missions to quake-stricken areas in Northwest Syria, Baraa continued, noting that other countries are already sending relief supplies to the regime-controlled areas, but nothing from them has been sent to Northwest Syria.

“So far, no relief materials entered Northwest Syria through the Bab Al Hawa border crossing […] only 400 dead bodies entered through the crossing [from Turkey] to be buried in Syria,” she said.

Lack of equipment in Syria

The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, called for urgent aid, saying, “We need heavy equipment, ambulances, and firefighting vehicles to continue to rescue and remove the rubble, and this requires lifting sanctions on Syria as soon as possible,” as quoted by Syria’s state-owned news agency SANA.

He added that the relief volunteers are ready but lack equipment, calling upon international donors to help.

Dozens of countries around the globe have also rushed to send medical, food and other logistical aid to Syria and Turkey, including sending rescue missions to the quake-stricken provinces, as several victims are still trapped under the rubble.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is helping the Red Crescent provide food, water, mattresses and blankets to shelters hosting those affected by the crisis, Adnan Hizam, an ICRC official in Damascus, told Jusoor Post. 

He added that the main problem is that Syria is exhausted from more than 12 years of conflict, so the health sector is unable to play its role in treating the injured.

“The service infrastructure is exhausted. The needs before this disaster were great, and now they have multiplied even more. This constitutes a burden on us and a challenge in the humanitarian response, whether due to the remnants of 12 years of conflict or this disaster,” Hizam said.