Almost a week after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, more than 35,000 people were killed, according to official counts. While 29,605 deaths were recorded in Turkey alone, the UN reported 5,900 deaths from Syria. As WHO emergency coordinator Richard Brennan said on Sunday, the majority (4,500) died in rebel-held areas. In the country ravaged by civil war, help is often not forthcoming and people are desperate.
UN emergency coordinator Martin Griffiths sharply criticized the international “failure” in providing aid to earthquake victims in Syria’s civil war after a visit to the earthquake zone on Saturday. “We have failed the people of northwestern Syria so far,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
5.3 million people homeless
A UN convoy of 10 trucks reached Syria from Turkey on Thursday, but Griffiths said much more help is needed. 5.3 million people in Syria could have been left homeless as a result of the earthquake.
Islamic militias block aid supplies
The aid is complicated by the security situation in the civil war country. A planned delivery of relief supplies from government areas to Idlib province had been halted, the German news agency learned from government circles on Sunday. The goods delivered by the Syrian Red Crescent must therefore be delivered via the city of Sarakib in Idlib. According to activists, the HTS militia, which dominates the area, subsequently blocked the shipment.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad is considering opening further border crossings for aid deliveries to the rebel areas. Assad has indicated his willingness to “consider additional cross-border entry points for this emergency,” Tedros said after meeting with Assad in Damascus on Sunday.
outbreak of disease is imminent
The risk of disease is now also increasing in the affected areas. According to the Emergency WASH (Water Sanitation Hygiene) expert of the Austrian Red Cross, Georg Ecker, the water supply and drainage system in the earthquake zone has been severely affected. As a result, people depend on surface waters – such as rivers or lakes – which in turn are polluted with excrement because people have no sanitary facilities due to the destroyed buildings. In addition, groundwater systems can shift or be disrupted by the quakes, Ecker says.
There is therefore also a risk of contamination of the groundwater. If people have no choice but to drink contaminated water, it can lead to illnesses such as diarrhea too quickly. There have been cholera outbreaks in Syria for quite some time and the situation may be worsening due to poor water and sanitary conditions or there is a risk of cholera also spreading to Turkey due to the border area.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
