(Hama) Rescuers continue their search for survivors on Tuesday, the day after the powerful earthquake whose toll now exceeds 5,000 dead in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, a real race against the passing hours and the glacial cold.
Twenty-three million people are “potentially exposed, including around five million vulnerable people”, warned the World Health Organization (WHO), which has promised its long-term support.
International aid is due to arrive in Turkey and Syria on Tuesday for the affected regions. The first tremor early Monday, followed by several strong aftershocks, reached a magnitude of 7.8 and was felt as far away as Lebanon, Cyprus and northern Iraq.
In Turkey, the death toll currently stands at 3,419 and that of the injured at 20,534, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday. In Syria, at least 1,602 people have died and 3,640 have been injured, according to a latest tally from Syrian authorities and rescue workers in rebel areas.
In the government-controlled part of Syria, the death toll has risen to 812 dead and 1,449 injured, according to the health ministry. In areas under rebel control, the White Helmets (civil defense volunteers) reported 790 dead and more than 2,200 injured.
Rescuers fought hard in the cold, in the pouring rain or snow, sometimes with their bare hands, to save every life that could be, like this seven-year-old child who came out of the ruins in Hatay (South), on the border Syrian, under the eyes of AFP, after more than 20 hours of terror, the pajamas stained with dust. “Where is my mom? she said to the rescuer who held her in his arms.
The bad weather that hangs over Anatolia complicates the task of rescue and makes the fate of the survivors even more bitter, shivering in tents or around improvised braziers.
First international aid
International aid to Turkey should start arriving on Tuesday with the first teams of rescuers, from France and Qatar in particular. US President Joe Biden has promised his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan “all the help needed, whatever it is”.
The French planned to go in particular to Kahramanmaras, epicenter of the first earthquake, a region difficult to access and deeply bruised, buried under the snow.
Two American detachments of 79 rescue workers each were preparing to go there on Monday, according to the White House.
China on Tuesday announced the dispatch of $5.9 million in aid, including specialized urban rescue workers, medical teams and emergency equipment, according to state media in Beijing.
According to the Turkish president, 45 countries have offered their help.
On the other hand, in Syria, the appeal launched by the authorities in Damascus was mainly heard by its Russian ally, promising rescue teams “in the next few hours”, while according to the army, more than 300 Russian soldiers are already on the ground. the places to help the emergency services.
The UN also reacted, but insisted that the aid provided would go “to all Syrians throughout the territory”, part of which is not under government control.
In these rebel-held areas bordering Turkey in northwestern Syria, at least 700 dead have been counted.
Taking advantage of the chaos created by the earthquake, around 20 suspected fighters from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group escaped from a military prison in Rajo, controlled by pro-Turkish rebels.
The balance sheets on both sides of the border have continued to increase and given the extent of the damage they should increase as the search progresses.
In Turkey alone, the authorities have counted nearly five thousand collapsed buildings. And the drastic drop in temperatures puts the wounded, stuck in the ruins, at an additional risk of hypothermia.
dormitories
The WHO itself said that it expected the worst and feared “tolls eight times higher than the initial numbers”.
During the day on Monday, no less than 185 aftershocks were recorded, following the first two tremors: one of 7.8 which occurred in the middle of the night (4.17 a.m. local time), the other, of magnitude 7.5, at midday, both in southeastern Turkey.
Several aftershocks were recorded in the night, Tuesday before dawn. The strongest, of magnitude 5.5, was recorded at 6:13 a.m. local time (10:13 p.m. Eastern time) 9 km southeast of Gölbasi (south).
Dormitories have been opened by local authorities in gymnasiums or colleges or even in mosques to accommodate survivors. But for fear of new earthquakes, many residents preferred to spend the night outside, as in Sanliurfa, in the Turkish southeast.
“Who isn’t afraid? Everyone is afraid! “, assured Mustafa Koyuncu, 55, crammed with his wife and five children in the family car.
This earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the earthquake of August 17, 1999, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul.
The Turkish head of state has declared national mourning for seven days and the closure of schools for the week.