I work without ceasing
Emergency services working in Turkey in the areas most devastated by the February 6 earthquakes have rescued alive on Monday 14 several people trapped in the rubble of buildings destroyed by the tremors, including a child who had been buried for 182 hours. SOURCE: EUROPA PRESS
Rescue work is still in progress
Authorities reported on Monday morning several rescues in Antioch, capital of Hatay province and one of the most affected areas.
178 Hours Stuck
Among the survivors rescued is a 70-year-old woman who had been trapped for 178 hours, as well as a 12-year-old boy evacuated at the 182nd hour, reports Anatolia news agency.
A girl had been buried for 178 hours
Several operations have also been reported in the neighboring region of Adiyaman, where a six-year-old girl who had also been buried for some 178 hours, if the first major earthquake to hit southern Turkey is anything to go by, has been located.
The Ministry of the Interior updates official data
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), under the Turkish Ministry of Interior, has indicated in a statement published on its website that so far 31,643 people have been confirmed dead and 158,165 injured in the ten provinces affected by the earthquakes, which had their epicenter in Pazarcik, in Kahramanmaras.
The number of evacuees and homeless people is rising
They have also added that about 195,000 people have been evacuated.
The work of the search teams continues
He also noted that more than 35,200 search and rescue team members, as well as members of various government agencies, are working on the ground, including some 9,500 from abroad.
Data from Syria are more difficult to obtain
«Search operations to recover the bodies of the deceased are underway in several locations in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, eight days after the violent earthquake shook the region,» the Syrian Civil Defense has reported.
At least 9,300 killed in Syria
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for emergencies, Rick Brennan, said Sunday from Damascus that the agency estimates that at least 9,300 have died in Syria, some 4,800 in areas controlled by the authorities and 4,500 in rebel-held areas, although he qualified that right now there is no way to make an accurate projection.
The number of victims amounts to at least 36,000
Turkish authorities on Tuesday raised to nearly 32,000 the death toll from last week’s earthquakes in the province of Kahramanmaras, near the border with Syria, which have left nearly 36,000 dead in both countries, according to official estimates.
Children, the most affected
UNICEF stressed Tuesday that more than seven million children have been affected by last week’s earthquakes in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, and stressed that they and their families «desperately» need more support.
Need more resources
UNICEF is distributing drinking water, winter clothing and nutritional items in Syria, while in Turkey it has proceeded to distribute children’s winter clothing, hygiene kits for families, babies and mothers, and blankets. UNICEF is also procuring sleeping bags, chargers and sleeping chairs in the ten affected provinces in Turkey. Agency spokesman James Elder said, »Everyone, everywhere, needs more support. More safe water. More warmth. More shelter. More medicine. More funding,» thus vindicating the needs that exist.
