Heartbreaking moment Two days after the earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, leaving them buried in the rubble of their home, sobbing children and babies are safe among family members – the death toll nears 8,000
Footage captured the heartbreaking moment when a sobbing child was dug out of the rubble following the devastating earthquake in Syria.
Heroic rescue workers were filmed frantically searching through rubble to reach several young children and family members.
The survivors are said to have been buried under the rubble of their home in Jindires, Aleppo, northern Syria, where the worst damage was felt.
Syria’s civil defense workers were filmed shouting in despair in the dark, wet remains of the building.
The team finds a child whose lower half is trapped under bricks and debris – her head appears to be covered in blood.
More workers are also working to lift bricks away from another child’s body, with one person feeling their wrist to check for a pulse.
Amid screams and wails, the camera reverts to a waving hand—the only body part visible from a pile of rubble.
A baby is also filmed trapped under a giant slab of rock.
As rescuers continue to pick up the debris with their bare hands, a child begins to sob and cough.
But soon after, they are lifted out on a stretcher along with a man.
As workers pick up the rubble with their bare hands, a child begins to sob and cough
A rescue worker takes the pulse of a child trapped under the rubble of a house in Syria
The footage comes after more than 7,800 people were killed in the magnitude 7.8 quake and its aftermath, including 5,894 in Turkey and at least 1,932 in Syria.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the death toll could rise to as many as 20,000 if attempts are made to rescue those still trapped under the rubble.
According to WHO estimates, more than 23 million could also be affected in both countries.
A team of 77 search and rescue specialists, state-of-the-art equipment and four dogs arrived in Turkey from the UK tonight.
The plane arrived in the city of Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey to support current rescue efforts.
The crying child is being lifted out of the rubble on a stretcher next to a man
Rescuers rescued several people from the rubble of a family home
Teams from the US will also arrive in the southeastern province of Adiyaman tomorrow to focus on search and rescue in the city following the tragedy.
But aid to earthquake-stricken Syria has been slowed by sanctions and damage to the only border crossing through which aid supplies entered the country from Turkey.
A key issue complicating the distribution of aid is “the war and the way aid efforts are divided between rebel-held areas and Damascus,” said Aron Lund, a fellow at New York-based think-tank Century International who researches Syria .
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN agency OCHA, said: “It is imperative that everyone sees this as a humanitarian crisis with lives at stake. Please don’t politicize. Let’s get the help to the people who need it so badly.”