The world stands up to save the survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

The death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit north Syria and southeast Turkey on Monday topped 5,000, according to Turkey’s Emergency and Disaster Management Authority, the Ministry of Health and Syrian rescue teams. fears that their number will increase by about eight times! The magnitude of the earthquake was estimated at 7.8 on the Richter scale. Rescue teams race against time to find survivors among the rubble. International pledges continue to provide emergency assistance and additional support to Turkey and Syria in the wake of this humanitarian disaster. Rescuers in southern Turkey and northern Syria, with their bare hands and in the midst of bitter cold on Tuesday, continue to search for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildings that collapsed in a series of violent earthquakes that rocked the world. in two countries on Monday and caused the collapse of thousands of buildings, including many housing estates, destroyed hospitals and left thousands homeless and injured. A spokesman for the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) said yesterday that the country’s death toll from Monday’s strong earthquake had risen to 3,381. Official Orhan Tatar added in a press statement that it was 20,426. people were injured and 5,775 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake, followed by 285 aftershocks. Turkish relief teams counted the collapse of more than 5,600 buildings in many cities, including high-rise buildings that housed extended families whose members were asleep when the first earthquake struck. At least 1,444 people have died across Syria, according to the Ministry of Health and aid teams. And the Syrian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll had risen to 711 unconfirmed people in government-controlled areas in the governorates of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus. The White Helmets, operating in the northern areas not controlled by Damascus, reported the death of 733 people. The director of the Syrian Opposition Civil Defense Organization said yesterday that time is running out to save hundreds of families who are still under the rubble of destroyed buildings after Monday’s massive earthquake. Raed Al-Saleh added that there is an urgent need for international organizations to help rescue the civil defense organization known as the White Helmets in northwestern Syria, controlled by opposition fighters, where hundreds have been killed and wounded. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that the earthquake and aftershocks that followed and destroyed dozens of buildings in Turkey and Syria could have claimed the lives of thousands of children. “Thousands of children may have died in the early morning quakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria yesterday,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters at a press conference in Geneva. He added that the organization was unable to determine the number of dead children. China Central Television reported yesterday that Beijing will provide the first payment of 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) as an emergency relief aid to Turkey after the strong earthquake hit the country this week. He added that the Chinese Red Cross will provide $200,000 in emergency aid to Turkey and Syria. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday that he should “pick up the phone and tell us” what the United States can do to provide relief after the massive earthquake that hit the country. . Price added that Blinken had asked his senior staff to identify funding that might be available to help Turkey and NGOs working on the ground in Syria. Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh has ordered the deployment of civil defense and medical teams to “participate in search and rescue efforts for victims of the devastating earthquake,” his office said in a statement.