Three days after the earthquake, the balance sheets continue to increase. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck at dawn on Monday, destroyed entire towns in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria. According to the latest reports published Thursday, February 9 in the evening by the emergency services, at least 20,783 people died, 17,406 in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria.
A first aid convoy in the rebel areas of Syria
A first aid convoy has entered rebel areas in northwestern Syria. Six trucks entered Syrian territory from Turkey through the Bab Al-Hawa border post. According to an official at the border post, this is aid that was expected before the earthquake of a magnitude of 7.8 and the tremors – more than a hundred – which devastated Syria and Turkey.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that the convoy, carrying blankets, mattresses, tents, relief materials and solar lamps, should cover the needs of at least 5,000 people. On Wednesday, a UN official warned that the UN stockpile in northwestern Syria was barely enough to feed 100,000 people for a week.
The arrival of aid in these rebel areas is complicated, the damage caused by the earthquake making it difficult to pass the access roads to Bab Al-Hawa, the only crossing point currently guaranteed by the UN. For its part, Turkey has announced that it is working to open two other border crossings with Syria to allow the delivery of aid. “For humanitarian reasons, we are also aiming to open border crossings with regions under government control” of Damascus,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The President of the ICRC in Syria; WHO chief ‘on the way’
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, said on Twitter the evening she arrived in Syria:
“I arrived tonight in Aleppo, Syria with a heavy heart. Communities struggling after years of fierce fighting are now paralyzed by the earthquake. As this tragic event unfolds, the plight of the people must be addressed. »
Earlier, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also announced on Twitter it was “on the way to Syria”. Twenty-three million people are “potentially exposed, including around five million vulnerable people”, says the WHO. She fears a major health crisis that would cause even more damage than the earthquake.
The United Nations has announced that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths will visit affected areas in Turkey and Syria this weekend. Humanitarian organizations are particularly worried about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has reappeared in Syria.
Brussels expresses its “solidarity” with the Turkish people
Meeting at a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the European Union (EU) – which is organizing a donor conference for Turkey and Syria in early March – observed a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake. They sent a letter to Mr. Erdogan expressing their “solidarity” with the Turkish people and offering to increase their aid to Turkey.
The EU sent first aid to Turkey hours after the quake on Monday. But it initially offered only minimal aid to Syria through existing humanitarian programs, due to international sanctions in place since the start of the civil war in 2011. On Wednesday, Damascus officially requested assistance of the EU, and the Commission has asked the Member States to respond favorably to this request.
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European Commissioner Janez Lenarcic, coordinator of European Union assistance, was in Gaziantep, in south-eastern Turkey, on Thursday to meet Turkish officials, but also humanitarian organizations active in the north-west of Turkey. Syria, the Commission said. The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called on Geneva “not to be politicized” aid to this country, adding that he had raised the subject with representatives of the United States and the European Union.
World Bank announces $1.78 billion in aid
The World Bank announced on Thursday that it will provide $1.78 billion in aid to Turkey. This aid must first help to help relief, detailed the World Bank. But also target the needs necessary for reconstruction.
Shortly after, Washington in turn promised $85 million in aid to Turkey and Syria. The United States Agency for Development (USAID) stressed in a press release that the funding will be given to partners on the ground. “to provide the urgently needed aid to millions of people”.
For its part, France announced that it was going to set up emergency aid for the Syrian population to the tune of 12 million euros. London announced Thursday additional financial aid of at least 3.4 million euros allocated to the white helmets, the rescuers operating in the rebel zone.
The search for survivors continues
Thousands of homes are destroyed on both sides of the border, and rescuers continue their efforts to search for survivors in the rubble, even as the crucial first seventy-two hour window to find survivors has closed. , the situation being further aggravated by freezing cold. In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, temperatures dipped early Thursday to −5°C.
In Adiyaman, the earthquake trapped teenagers and their companions in their completely collapsed hotel, who had come from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC, recognized by Turkey alone) to play in a volleyball tournament. According to Nazim Cavusoglu, Cypriot-Turkish Minister of Education, who came to the scene, a teacher and three parents were extracted alive on Wednesday evening. “Thirty-three people are still trapped”according to him.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting the disaster areas, sketched out a mea culpa on Wednesday in the face of mounting criticism: “Of course there are shortcomings, it is impossible to be prepared for such a disaster. »