The death toll passed 15000 on Thursday from the Earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this week. Slow arrival of rescue teams led to anger and frustration among the destitutes.
Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president since may visited the devastated area on Wednesday and promised no one would be homeless and the operations are running smoothly.
Due to the current situation people of sudden turkey are compelled to seek temporary shelter and food in the freezing winter weather. They waited in their moment of distress as most of the family and friends were still buried.
By Thursday morning the recorded death toll was 12,391 which was more than 30% as recorded on wednesday according to the Disaster Management Authority.
People are crying for help and complaining about the lack of equipment, expertise and support for the people who are trapped. Rescuers are getting people who are still alive.
On Wednesday, Sabiha Alinak said “Where is the state? Where have they been for two days? We are begging them. Let us do it, we can get them out,” where her young relatives were trapped near a collapsed building in the city of Malatya.
Similar situation could be noticed in the north of Syria which was hard-hit by the massive quake and the death toll reached a minimum of 2,950 by Wednesday as per the government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.
Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations blamed the decade of civil war and Western sanctions for the lack of capabilities and equipment.
Hundreds of buildings have collapsed in many cities and have become tombs of people who were sleeping during the quake hit which will result in the rise of death tolls.
Dozens of bodies covered in blankets, sheets and body bags were lined up outside a hospital in the Turkish city of Antakya.
Melek who is 64 lamented for the rescue team and stated “We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold.”
It was the Turkey deadliest earthquake since 1999 with a 7.8 magnitude and a second powerful quake hours later. People were shaken and were fearful to get back to their buildings and slept in their cars on the streets under the blankets even during the freezing cold.
A video released by Turkish authorities shows a young girl in pyjamas and an older man covered in dust with an unlit cigarette between his fingers while he was pulled out from the debris.
Turkish officials claimed that in an area spanning roughly 450 km (280 miles) from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east some 13.5 million people were affected. In Syria, people were killed as far south as Hama, 250 km from the epicentre.
The bodies of refugees of Syria War were taken to their final resting places of their homeland in taxis, vans and piled atop flatbed trucks.
Syrian state media had reported that more than 298,000 people have been made homeless and 180 shelters for the displaced had been opened in the areas under government control, and not held by opposition factions.
The relief situation in Syria is complicated due to the conflict that has destroyed the infrastructure and partitioned the nation.
The U.N. humanitarian aid via Turkey will be delivered to millions of people in northwest Syria that could resume on Thursday after the long-running operation halted by the quake, U.N. officials said.
Impact of Election
A state of emergency is declared in 10 provinces by Erdogan. He had sent troops for help and visited Kahramanmaras on Wednesday to check on the damage and monitor the rescue and relief effort.
He promised to be in a better position from Thursday onwards compared to the past days due to the condition of roads and airports. The fuel issues will be there but that can be managed.
This disaster can be a challenge in the coming May elections for Erdogan who had a toughest fight in his two decades of power.
Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk later said in a tweet that the company had been informed by the government of Turkey that full access to the social media platform would be re-enabled “shortly”.