West News Wire: A seven-month-old infant and a teenage girl have been rescued from the wreckage in Hatay, Turkey, nearly a week after earthquakes ravaged the nation and neighboring Syria, claiming more than 29,000 lives.
On Sunday, there were 24,617 fatalities in Turkey, compared to more than 4,500 in Syria. White Helmets estimated 3,100 people dead and 5,070 injured in opposition-controlled areas, according to news reporters, whereas Syrian government-controlled media reported at least 1,408 deaths and 2,341 injuries.
After arriving in southern Turkey on Saturday to inspect the damage, Martin Griffiths, the head of the United Nations relief effort, said he anticipated the death toll to at least double.
Tens of thousands of rescue workers are scouring flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the hardship of millions now in desperate need of aid.
“The air is thick with smoke and dust. There’s no sanitation. People are still buried under the rubble and are sleeping out in the open there are some tents here in Antakya but they still aren’t enough yet,” as per reports from Antakya in Turkey.
The UN has warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria.
In Syria alone, up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless, the UN estimated.
Nearly 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake and dozens of hospitals are damaged across both countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said as it launched a flash appeal on Saturday for $42.8m to cope with immediate, towering health needs.
Turkey’s disaster agency said more than 32,000 people from Turkish organisations are working on search-and-rescue efforts. There are also 8,294 international rescuers.
The UN human rights office tweeted on Friday a call by High Commissioner Volker Turk “for immediate ceasefire in Syria, and full respect of #humanrights & humanitarian law obligations so help can reach everyone”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the Security Council to authorise the opening of new cross-border aid points between Turkey and Syria. The council will meet to discuss Syria, possibly in the coming days.
