The number of victims of the devastating earthquake along the Turkish-Syrian border by the evening of February 12 exceeded 29 thousand people. Of these, 24.5 thousand are in Turkey, another 4.5 thousand are in Syria. And these numbers continue to grow every hour. A week has passed since the tragedy, but rescuers do not stop working on the rubble – and still find survivors. The Syrian embassy in Moscow told Izvestia that they had opened a collection of assistance for the affected Syrians – several tons of humanitarian supplies were already waiting to be sent. The republic’s ambassador to the Russian Federation, Bashar Jaafari, noted: Syria has not yet received a single batch of Western aid: sanctions against the country sanctions do not allow the transport of necessary goods, including medicines.
“The worst thing is that it’s very cold here”
According to the UN, in Syria, the earthquake affected 11 million people, at least 5.3 million lost their homes. In Turkey, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at least 13 million people are in the disaster zone. A three-month state of emergency has been declared in 10 provinces of the country.
The temperature in the region still does not rise above +5°C, dropping to -3°C at night. A snowstorm hit the Syrian areas affected by the earthquake – this greatly complicates the rescue work, Safa Sallal, an employee of the press service of the ruling Baath party, told Izvestia. Since the first day of the disaster, she has been in the northern Syrian cities most affected by the earthquake.
– The situation is very complicated – everyone with whom I spoke in Latakia and Jable admit that they are still in a state of shock. Syrian rescuers have been continuing the search for survivors in Latakia, Aleppo and Hama for a week now, the work will continue, the Izvestia interlocutor clarified. “The worst thing is that it’s very cold here. At night, the temperature drops below zero, in addition, there is a lot of moisture due to past rains.
According to her, people from the affected areas are placed in evacuation centers organized by the government. Some residents, whose houses were not damaged, take in people who have lost their homes.
But many do not want to return for fear that aftershocks could be repeated. The houses look intact, but there are cracks inside them, so it’s not safe to be here, said Izvestia photojournalist Dmitry Korotaev. Now he works in the city of Dzhebla, where rescuers from the Russian Emergencies Ministry arrived.
– In Jebla there is electricity, somewhere in other cities there is not. Not far from the place of work of rescuers of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, I saw people warming themselves by the fires. As for water, I don’t know. Our rescuers and food distribution points are satisfied, – the correspondent noted.
Thousands of survivors have already been pulled out from under the rubble. The first 72 hours after an earthquake are considered the most critical – at this time, as a rule, the chances of finding victims higher 90%. Further, every hour reduces these chances by a factor – people who survived the initial impact of the elements die from bleeding, dehydration and hypothermia under the rubble.
So, on February 12, 149 hours after the earthquake, rescuers were able to extract a 35-year-old man from under the rubble of a six-story building in the Turkish city of Hatay. Mustafa Sarygyul was found thanks to DAR military radars developed by the Turkish company STM – such devices scan buildings and make it possible to detect the living under the rubble.
The rescue operation is likely to continue for several more days – reports of miraculous rescues come every day, Turkish political scientist Kerim Has told Izvestia.
— In 1999, my hometown Adapazarı in northwestern Turkey was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. In our street, except for a few buildings, all the houses were destroyed. And I remember well that 12 days after the tragedy, a living person was found under the rubble. That is why there is still hope. The pace of the search will probably slow down, but a few more days of work, I think, will continue,” the political scientist specified. – For me, from that day of the earthquake, it was as if a second life had begun, because all of us, my whole family, could have died there.
Help from the Russians
The Syrian Embassy in Moscow has opened a collection of humanitarian aid for the affected Syrian regions. In a few days, the Russians brought several tons of cargo, the first batch has already gone to Syria, Izvestia was told in the diplomatic mission. Most of all, warm clothes, matches, cereals, power banks, diapers, infant formula are needed, the embassy said.
Anyone can bring help to the Syrian embassy: the embassy volunteers accept “humanitarian aid” daily, from 9 to 18:00.
As the correspondent of Izvestia was convinced, the entire courtyard of the embassy has turned into a collection point for assistance – volunteers and employees of the diplomatic mission unpack packages, sort clothes separately, products separately. Muscovites bring help in ordinary packages.
— I’m afraid to cry and ruin your article. I have come to express my condolences to the Syrians whose relatives have died. I myself lived in Syria for 18 years, this country is not indifferent to me,” one of the women who brought bags of clothes to the embassy told Izvestia.
– I brought children’s toys and food, my son made an elephant toy himself. As soon as I heard about the news from Syria, I decided to pass it on to the Syrians,” another Izvestia interlocutor admitted.
Turkish diplomatic missions in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia have started a similar collection of aid. As the Turkish Consulate General in Kazan notes in its social networks, warm clothes, tents, sleeping bags and diapers are most needed now.
At the same time, Syria has not yet received a single batch of humanitarian aid from Western states, said Syrian Ambassador to Russia Bashar Jaafari. Sanctions against the country further complicate the situation and increase the damage, the diplomat stressed.
– Immoral discrimination from the West persists even in these conditions. All Western aid goes only towards Turkey, Syria has not received anything yet. The only ones who help us are the Arab countries and friendly states led by the Russian Federation,” the diplomat stressed.
Most international aid to Syria from the UN and other agencies passes through the capital, Damascus. However, the northwest of the country, parts of which are under the control of the opposition and radical groups, receives assistance directly through the cross-border mechanism, bypassing official checkpoints. Such a scheme allows the UN and Western agencies to deliver aid to opposition regions without the approval of Damascus.
The only UN-approved border crossing for the delivery of cross-border aid to northwestern Syria, Bab al-Hawa, did not function for some time – part of the route leading to it was destroyed. By February 9, the road was repaired and convoys were dispatched with food, clothing, blankets, and other supplies.
The search for the culprits began
According to Turkish political scientist Onur Sinar Gyuzaltan, the country is undergoing a total mobilization of society to help the affected areas. Now more than 120,000 people are connected to work in the southeast of the country.
“There are more than 12,000 destroyed buildings here. Most of them are residential. There is no official information on how many people can be under the rubble. Therefore, rescuers continue to work, and every hour of searching brings reports of miraculous rescues. Hope is still alive, – the expert explained to Izvestia.
At the same time, he emphasized that society is gradually beginning to recover from the shock and asking questions about who is to blame for the fact that the buildings have taken shape like houses of cards.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Feb. 12 that Turkish security forces were looking for more than a hundred suspected of violations in the construction of houses that collapsed as a result of the earthquake.
“131 suspects were found guilty of causing buildings to collapse as a result of earthquakes. One of them was arrested and 113 were ordered to be detained. The search for suspects is underway,” Oktay said.
– A wave of arrests began of the contractors of the collapsed buildings and everyone involved in their construction. Especially those who work in the private sector. But let’s hope that this wave of arrests will initiate investigations not only against contractors, but also against officials who gave permission to these contractors to build earthquake-resistant buildings, Onur Sinar Gyuzaltan specified.
Member of the Turkish Parliament, head of the Innovation Party Ozturk Yilmaz arrived in the disaster zone from the first day to provide assistance to the victims. Now he is in the city of Osmaniye, where he participates in the distribution of humanitarian aid.
In a conversation with Izvestia, the politician also noted that not only builders, but also the government, which issued licenses to these companies, should bear responsibility for the destruction.
He stressed that Turkey has experienced two earthquakes in a row, aftershocks are still ongoing. These disasters will certainly go down in world history as one of the most catastrophic. But that shouldn’t be an excuse. After all, buildings collapsed, which, according to their builders, were supposed to withstand an earthquake, the parliamentarian summed up.
