Nine days after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, a Dutch rescue team has reportedly pulled four people alive from the rubble in the Turkish city of Antakya in Hatay province. The rescue dog team RHWW announced on Wednesday that it concerns three men and a child. A woman has also been rescued alive from the rubble in Kahramanmaras province, according to media reports.
The Dutch team said that a father and his son were found during the night. The other two men were rescued Tuesday evening after the dogs smelled them. The 45-year-old woman was rescued in Kahramanmaras province on Wednesday morning, state broadcaster TRT reported. She was therefore buried for 222 hours.
Already 40,000 dead
More than a week after the earthquake disaster, the number of deaths had already risen above 40,000. In Turkey alone, the number is 35,418, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, according to state news agency Anadolu Ajansi. 5,900 deaths have recently been reported from Syria. Thousands of people are still missing.
However, civil protection in Turkey announced further knowledge of the extent of the destruction. “There are very intense aftershocks. We are dealing with an unusual situation,” Orhan Tatar, head of Afad’s risk reduction department, said on Wednesday. More than 3,800 aftershocks were recorded, 38 of which exceeded magnitude 5. He warned people in affected provinces not to stay in or near buildings.
The search continues
Hopes of finding survivors are dwindling. Nevertheless, the search and rescue work continues. In the meantime, the clean-up work has also started in badly hit Hatay, a reporter from the state broadcaster TRT reports.
Aid in Syria still ‘at critical level’
Meanwhile, Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for Development and Emergency Relief (USAID), saw an urgent need for aid for the victims of the earthquake in Syria. “Despite the arrival of 90 aid vans, the amount of humanitarian money in storages in Syria is falling to a critically low level,” Power wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. According to the latest estimates, 350,000 people were displaced by the disaster, the USAID chief wrote.
The opening of two more border crossings into Turkey to improve humanitarian aid in the country’s northwest is good news, Power wrote. “But a UN Security Council resolution remains the best way to ensure that aid can continue to flow reliably, even after the cameras are gone.” had been huge even before the earthquake. The people urgently need food, medicine and tents.
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.
