1 of 2 Drone footage shows the extent of the devastation from last week’s earthquake — Photo: BBC Drone footage shows the extent of the devastation from last week’s earthquake — Photo: BBC
Bulldozers work day and night to dig up bodies and clear debris.
But the chance of finding survivors is long gone in Jindayris in northwest Syria.
The city was once home to 100,000 people, including the surrounding countryside. Now it’s empty.
Yazan al Nasser, deputy mayor of Jindayris, told the BBC at least 800 people had died.
“Seventy percent of the city has been destroyed,” he says.
“This city is doomed, it’s a disaster.”
2 of 2 Whole families unable to find shelter sleep outside in the freezing cold — Photo: BBC Whole families unable to find shelter sleep outside in the freezing cold — Photo: BBC
More than 4,000 families have no place to sleep.
“Jindayris is now my biggest enemy because I lost my whole family there,” says Abdallah Mahmoud alIssa, trying to hold back his tears.
“I lost 17 family members, it’s terrible.”
He says the fourstory building his brothers lived in simply collapsed.
“It looked like a biscuit, the base and walls looked like biscuit crumbs, all reduced to rubble.”
“We dug for three days until we got to their bodies,” he recalls.
“They died because they suffocated, help didn’t arrive in time and there weren’t enough rescuers.”
The father of two says local civil defense units have been doing what they can with the few resources available.
In freezing temperatures, he is now desperately looking for a place to hide.
“My daughter keeps asking me why we can’t sleep in the tent, but nobody helps us.”
Destruction in the center of Jindayris
Drone footage of the city shows piles of rubble and concrete everywhere, with virtually no buildings standing.
“The reason Jindayris suffered this level of destruction is because of its location near the Turkish border in an earthquakeprone region,” Mohammed, a volunteer who helped with the rescue efforts, told the BBC.
In over a decade of civil war, the city has changed hands many times.
Kurdish forces initially pushed the Syrian army north as part of a broader opposition movement.
Then Turkey sent troops and conquered parts of this nearborder territory. Jindayris is currently controlled by Turkishbacked Syrian fighters.
Many residents have been displaced several times, some have found refuge here after being expelled from regimecontrolled regions of Syria.
“People who were displaced by the war thought that one day they would be able to return to their homes, so they didn’t put much effort into making the buildings safe or stable,” says Nasser, who also heads the city’s disaster management team .
“Few strong buildings on solid foundations could withstand the earthquake.”
“Efforts have been made in recent years to curb illegal construction and enforce safety regulations, but this has not been enough to prevent the devastation caused by the earthquake.”
And now Nasser is dealing with a perfect storm, an impoverished population and a lack of sanitation.
“The infrastructure has been badly hit, the water and sewage system is not working, 4060 percent of it is destroyed,” he says.
“The water wells were also destroyed in the earthquake, so we can’t count on that either.”
Abu Eilf fled Aleppo to Jindayris during the war and now lives on the streets.
“Four floors of our building collapsed, everything was leveled to the ground,” he describes how he, his wife and children were able to flee the building when the earthquake broke out.
“We managed to rescue five people from the rubble, but 23 died, may they rest in peace.”
“Everyone sleeps on the side streets. I took my wife and kids and got them shelter, but I sleep on the street.”
Some survivors, like Aref Abu Mohamed, say the earthquake was the worst they have ever experienced.
“There is no electricity and we don’t have enough water or food,” he says.
“The people of northern Syria have gone through many difficult times, but this tragedy that has befallen us has left us without hope.”