Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

3 min read
7 February 2023 | 21:00 CAT

Rescuers are still digging through the rubble to rescue survivors after collapsed buildings  in Syria and Turkey on Monday following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

Picture: ABC News

Authorities are calling this the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since 1999 as it was reported on Tuesday that the death toll has surpassed 5 000 people.

Thousands of buildings fell to the ground while hospitals and schools are wrecked and tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in several Turkish and Syrian cities.

A United Nation (UN) official says thousands of children may be among the dead as harsh winter weather is hampering search efforts and aid delivery.

Aid officials have voiced particular concern on the Syrian situation as the region is already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12 years of civil war.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has declared as a disaster zone in 10 provinces and imposed a state of emergency in the region for three months.

In Turkey, the death toll had climbed to 3,419 people by Tuesday morning, according to Vice President Fuat Oktay. In Syria, the death toll stood at just over 1,600, according to the government and a rescue service in the insurgent-held northwest.

“It’s now a race against time,” says World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the Syria-Turkey quake.

“Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes,” he adds.

Across both regions, rescuers are working through the night and into the morning searching for survivors as people waited in anguish by mounts of rubble.  In the Turkish city of Antakya, capital of Hatay province near the Syrian border, a woman’s voice was heard calling for help under a pile of rubble.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said 5,775 buildings had been destroyed in the quake, which was followed by 285 aftershocks, adding that 20,426 people had been injured.

Meanwhile, the Turkish ambassador to South Africa, Aysegul Kandas is appealing for humanitarian assistance with the main priority being rescue teams and medical assistance.