Recep Tayyip Erdogan He condemned the growing criticism of the Turkish authorities’ response to the earthquakes. On his first visit to the disaster area, the president of Turkey He acknowledged “deficiencies” in his government’s response, but pledged that no one “stay on the street.”
Many Turks have complained of a lack of equipment and support as they waited hearing cries for help unable to rescue trapped family members and neighbors.
“Certainly there have been shortages, given the conditions. It is impossible to be prepared to face a catastrophe like this”Erdogan stressed.
More than three days of despair
The inhabitants of the city of Antakya await the arrival of help to rescue their loved ones. Between bonfires, they remain standing in the cold in front of their collapsed houses, where relatives are still buried.
Abdulqader Barakat, is one of the survivors of the earthquake:“There are four, we took two out and two have been (inside) for hours. We heard their voices and they are responding. We need (rescue) teams, I appeal to the entire world and the international community to help us rescue the children .”
However, they still have hope, fueled by images like this. It is about the rescue of Helen, a baby pulled from the rubble after 68 hours.
Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake, considered the world’s deadliest in more than a decade, has already caused more than 16,000 dead and the number continues to increase
In addition to the 12,873 people killed in Turkeythe country’s disaster management agency, said more than 60,000 have been injured.
The number of deaths from the earthquakes in Syria rose today to 3,162 and the number of injured already reaches 5,235, while rescue efforts continue in the five most affected provinces of the country with little hope of finding survivors.
In the areas of Idlib and Aleppo (northwest) in the hands of the opposition, the balance exceeds 1,900 fatalities and 2,950 injured, according to the latest count offered by the White Helmets, a group of rescuers that operates in the opposition regions of Syria. .
Rescuers warned that the numbers could continue to rise, as many people remain trapped under rubble on the fourth day of emergency operations after the initial quake registered last Monday with its epicenter in southeastern Turkey.
On the other hand, 1,262 people lost their lives and another 2,285 were injured by the earthquakes in the areas controlled by the Government of Bashar al Asad, which has not updated its balance sheet since yesterday.
Of the areas in the hands of Damascus, the victims are concentrated in the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Tartus, also in the northwest and west of the country, as well as in parts of Aleppo that are beyond the control of the opposition.
The Syrian authorities announced yesterday that about 293,000 people had to leave their homes as a result of the earthquakes in government areas, where some 180 shelters have been set up to accommodate those who lost their homes or whose homes suffered substantial damage.
Source: Euronews Español
