As there is a glaring lack of emergency accommodation for the up to 5.3 million people left homeless according to UN estimates, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which operates in rebel areas, has warned people of potentially fatal if they entered the fragile ruins. The example of a family from the small town of Djindiris, which was hard hit by the earthquake and which, according to SAMS, had to be rescued twice, shows the danger.
A pregnant woman was pulled out of her ruined home a few hours after the tremors, the NGO said. After the birth of their son, she and her husband returned to their half-ruined house. According to reports, the family’s home finally completely collapsed during an aftershock.
Portal/Firas Makdesi A man stands in front of destroyed houses in the government-controlled city of Aleppo
The woman was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The baby is also in critical condition. It is unclear if the man was also injured. In general, earthquake-hit areas of Syria have received little help so far, as fronts to regime-controlled areas are closed and only a single border crossing (Bab al-Hawa) connects the region with Turkey in the north.
Trains ready – but unable to start
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has convoys of relief supplies ready for affected areas in northwest Syria, they are still awaiting delivery permission. The Damascus government has given comprehensive permission to bring convoys from areas under government control to rebel areas, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently in the Syrian capital Damascus.
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Danger of disease in earthquake areas
However, the Syrian government just wants humanitarian aid to flow through the areas it controls. The United States asked the Syrian ruler, Bashar al-Assad, to grant immediate access to humanitarian aid, without exception.
The area around Idlib and most of the earthquake-affected areas are under militia control. “We are ready, waiting to hear from the other side,” said Ghebreyesus. A UN spokesman recently spoke of “permission issues” with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls most of the area. The United Nations and the United States classify HTS as a terrorist organization.
Rebel leader calls for help
The HTS rebel leader, for whom the US government has placed a $10 million bounty on his head, has called for urgent international help from the northwest province of Idlib. “The United Nations must understand that it has to help in a crisis,” Ahmed Hussein al-Shara, better known by his pseudonym Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, told the British Guardian.
Jolani was officially classified as a terrorist by the US in 2013 for having previously led al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda splinter group. “From the first hour of the earthquake, we sent messages to the United Nations asking for help,” al-Shara told the Guardian in Idlib. “Unfortunately, no support has arrived for our search and rescue teams, nor has any specific help been provided to deal with this crisis.”
Earthquake disaster: still rescues
According to official data, 35,000 people have already died after the earthquake disaster in the Turkish-Syrian border area. The UN estimates that the death toll is likely to exceed 50,000. However, even after a week, there is still hope, because every day survivors are still found under the rubble.
Aid organization White Helmets, which operates in northwest Syria, complained on Friday that virtually no UN earthquake aid had reached the region so far. Shouts of help to the international community had also recently been sent from hospitals – in view of the completely inadequate supply situation.
rebels negotiate
Aid delivery is also stagnant within the country. The British activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that 52 truckloads of aid supplies from Kurdish-controlled areas destined for regions in western Syria had been stopped by rebels near Turkey. Both sides are currently in talks.
The goods would have come from the northeast of the country and the Kurds want them transported to Idlib and Afrin, which are under the control of other militias. The trucks carry things like tents, food, medicine, and clothing.
UN emergency relief coordinator Griffiths arrived in Aleppo
Meanwhile, UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths arrived in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday after his trip to the Turkish-Syrian earthquake zone. State news agency SANA said he was getting a picture of the situation in the worst-hit parts of the city. Griffiths had previously acknowledged the failures of the United Nations to help victims of the earthquake in Syria. “We have failed the people of northwest Syria so far,” he tweeted.
Portal/Khalil Ashawi Aid remains too slow in Syria
The death toll keeps rising
In both Syria and Turkey, the death toll is constantly rising. Though people were still being pulled out of the rubble on Monday morning – a week after the earthquake – hopes for miracles like these are fading. The confirmed death toll is now over 37,500 and more than 80,000 people were injured. UN emergency aid coordinator Griffiths had expected at least 50,000 deaths over the weekend.
ORF Wagner correspondent on the rescue work
Katharina Wagner, ORF correspondent, reports on rescue work in Turkey. Survivors are also found seven days after the earthquake.
WHO estimates the death toll in Syria at 5,900, the number of unreported cases is likely much higher. In Turkey, there are currently 31,643 fatalities, reported this Monday the state news agency Anadolu, citing the civil protection authority AFAD. More than 80,000 people were injured. Thousands of people are still missing. Even after 175 hours or more under the rubble, isolated people were still rescued in Turkey.
neighbor in distress
Help for earthquake victims
White Helmets declare week-long mourning
In Hatay province, a woman was rescued alive on Monday morning, the daily newspaper “Hürriyet” reported – another person after 176 hours. There was also good news from Gaziantep province: Rescuers rescued a 40-year-old person alive from the ruins of a five-story house after 170 hours, as reported by state broadcaster TRT.
The White Helmets rescue organization, which is looking for victims in northwest Syria, declared a week-long mourning. This indicates that rescuers no longer expect to find survivors under the rubble.
Armed Forces ended mission
Meanwhile, international aid organizations are winding down their operations in the crisis area. The Federal Army military also left the place, but the return flight should only happen on Thursday. Helpers were no longer required to work on Sunday. A rescue and recovery team will remain on standby for any needs until noon on Monday.
Since last Tuesday, 82 soldiers from the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) have been deployed to the hard-hit Turkish province of Hatay – more about that at noe.ORF.at. Camp dismantling began on Monday. Rescue of people is becoming “increasingly unlikely due to advancing time”, said operations manager Bernhard Lindenberg.
Austria: No change in visa criteria
At the same time, Austria wants to support earthquake victims or their relatives by examining their visa applications as quickly as possible, but without changing the criteria.
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Interior Ministry maintains visa criteria
The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna said on Monday, at the request of the APA, that the Austrian representations where applications will be made would use the possibilities available in the legal framework. Testing will continue to be based on previously applicable criteria.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, a valid visa is required by law to enter Austria from Syria or Turkey. The conditions for issuing the visa must be verified in an individual procedure, he said.