Earthquake death toll in Turkey, Syria passes 25,000

KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey – Even after the wounded are treated and the trapped are freed from the rubble, the disaster of the earthquakes in Turkey may continue due to less immediate dangers.

The aftershocks of the earthquake could also manifest in a lack of water and sanitation, as well as frigid temperatures.

IsraAID’s initial exploratory team assessed that clean water would be one of the major problems for area residents following the tremors. “There will be a massive need for clean water,” said IsraAID press officer Shachar May.

The head of the Antakya Jewish community in Turkey and his wife were found dead in the ruins of their home on Thursday. Saul Cenudioglu and his wife Fortuna were located by the Israeli IDF delegation and ZAKA volunteers.  

After three days of efforts and attempts, last night a special rescue team arrived in Antakya, Turkey, consisting of Home Front Command soldiers and ZAKA volunteers. The rescue team arrived at a building that collapsed in the earthquake, where the head of the Jewish community and his wife lived, who had been identified as missing since the collapse. "The rescuers worked intensively with dedication and in difficult conditions for many hours, until the two were found. Unfortunately, they were found dead," a ZAKA press release said.

"The Zaka organization is in continuous contact and accompanies the members of the Janudi family from the moment of receiving the report at the Zaka center."

After these two were located, the Israeli delegation will continue focusing on Turkish civilians in the area.

Syrians impacted by the deadly earthquake that struck their country and Turkey on Monday need "more of absolutely everything" in terms of aid, the United Nations' special envoy Geir Pedersen said on Thursday.

The UN had been assured the first assistance would cross from Turkey into Syria on Thursday, he told a briefing in Geneva, calling for assurances that there would be no political hindrances to getting aid to where it was most needed.

The first convoy of humanitarian assistance for northwest Syrians hit by the earthquake is en route to the southern Turkish border with the hope of crossing on Thursday, two aid sources told Reuters.

One aid source said the convoy included six trucks.

President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday admitted there were problems with his government's initial response to a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey, amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams.

Erdogan, who contests an election in May, said on a visit to the disaster zone that operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless, as the combined reported death toll in Turkey and neighboring Syria rose past 12,000.

Across a swathe of southern Turkey, people sought temporary shelter and food in freezing winter weather and waited in anguish by piles of rubble where family and friends might still lie buried.

Rescuers were still finding some people alive. But many Turks have complained of a lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped - sometimes even as they could hear cries for help.

"Where is the state? Where have they been for two days? We are begging them. Let us do it, we can get them out," Sabiha Alinak said near a snow-covered collapsed building in the city of Malatya where her young relatives were trapped.

Turkey earthquake – a glimpse of the ECHO assessment (credit: FLICKR)

There were similar scenes and complaints in neighboring Syria, whose north was hard hit by Monday's huge earthquake.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations admitted the government had a "lack of capabilities and lack of equipment," blaming more than a decade of civil war in his country and Western sanctions.

Death toll sure to rise

The death toll from both countries was expected to rise as hundreds of collapsed buildings in many cities have become tombs for people who had been asleep when the earthquake hit.

In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital.

Melek, 64, bemoaned the lack of rescue teams. "We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold."

Many in the disaster zone had slept in their cars or in the streets under blankets in freezing cold, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the 7.8 magnitude tremor - Turkey's deadliest since 1999 - and by a second powerful earthquake hours later.

The confirmed death toll rose to 9,057 in Turkey on Wednesday, and in Syria had climbed to at least 2,950, according to the government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.

Turkish authorities released video of rescued survivors, including a young girl in pajamas, and an older man covered in dust, an unlit cigarette between his fingers as he was pulled from the debris.

Turkish officials say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km (280 miles) from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east. In Syria, people were killed as far south as Hama, 250 km from the epicenter.

Some who died in Turkey were refugees from Syria's war. Their body bags arrived at the border in taxis, vans and piled atop flatbed trucks to be taken to final resting places in their homeland.

More than 298,000 people have been made homeless and 180 shelters for the displaced had been opened, Syrian state media reported, apparently referring to areas under government control, and not held by opposition factions.

In Syria, relief efforts are complicated by a conflict that has partitioned the nation and wrecked its infrastructure.

The delivery of UN humanitarian aid via Turkey to millions of people in northwest Syria could resume on Thursday after the long-running operation was halted by the earthquake, UN officials said.

In the Syrian city of Aleppo, staff at the Al-Razi hospital attended to an injured man who said more than a dozen relatives including his mother and father were killed when the building they were in collapsed.

Election impact

“This is a time for unity, solidarity. In a period like this, I cannot stomach people conducting negative campaigns for political interest.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan, who declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces and sent troops to help, arrived in Kahramanmaras to view the damage and see the rescue and relief effort.

Speaking to reporters, a wail of ambulance sirens in the background, he said there had been problems with roads and airports but "we are better today."

"We will be better tomorrow and later. We still have some issues with fuel ... but we will overcome those too," Erdogan said.

He later condemned criticism of the government's response. "This is a time for unity, solidarity. In a period like this, I cannot stomach people conducting negative campaigns for political interest," Erdogan told reporters in the southern province of Hatay.

Nevertheless, the disaster will pose a challenge to Erdogan in the May election that was already set to be the toughest fight of his two decades in power. Istanbul's stock exchange operator suspended trading for five days in an unprecedented step.

Any perception that the government is failing to address the disaster properly could hurt his prospects. Conversely, analysts say he could rally national support around the crisis response and strengthen his position.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears to be seeking political advantage from the earthquake, pressing for foreign aid to be delivered through his territory as he aims to chip away at his international isolation, analysts said.

Twitter was restricted in Turkey on Wednesday just as the public had come to "rely on the service" in the aftermath of the disaster, the Netblocks internet observatory said.

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."

Cyber rights expert and professor at Istanbul Bilgi University Yaman Akdeniz said it was not clear what caused the restriction, adding that access to TikTok was also limited in Turkey.

"How come Twitter is restricted on a day communication saves lives?" the head of the DEVA opposition party, Ali Babacan, said on Twitter.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry, which could impose such restrictions, was not available for comment.

Syria has, for the first time, asked for assistance from the European Union, two days after a devastating earthquake killed more than 11,000 people there and in neighboring Turkey, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Emergency support being provided

The EU said it would provide additional emergency support to both countries and emergency humanitarian assistance worth 6.5 million euros ($7 million) in one of the largest ever search and rescue operations through its Civil Protection Mechanism.

"We have received a request from the government of Syria for assistance through the civil protection mechanism," European Commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic said.

Lenarcic told reporters that EU member states were being encouraged to contribute with assistance as requested.

An EU official said the 27-member bloc would need enough safeguards to ensure that the aid provided effectively reached those in need and that the provision of any future EU assistance would not go un-monitored.

A man stands amidst the debris as the search for survivors continues, in the aftermath of the earthquake, in Aleppo, Syria February 7, 2023. (credit: FIRAS MAKDESI/REUTERS)

A country can request assistance through the EU mechanism when the scale of an emergency or disaster overwhelms its response capabilities.

Once activated, the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre coordinates and finances assistance provided by EU member states and eight additional participating nations.

Lenarcic will visit affected areas in Turkey tomorrow.

Twelve years ago, Abdel-Karim Abu Jalhoum fled war and poverty in the Palestinian territory of Gaza for safety in Turkey.

On Monday, the massive earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria killed him and his entire family.

Palestinians impacted by earthquake

The Palestinian foreign ministry said Abu Jalhoum, his wife Fatima, and their four children, were among 70 Palestinians who had been found dead. The overall death toll in the quake has shot beyond 11,000.

"My brother went to Turkey to seek a better life away from wars and blockades here in Gaza," Abu Jalhoum's brother, Ramzy, 43, told Reuters as relatives and neighbours trickled into the family's house in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday to pay respects.

"We lost the family. An entire family was wiped off the civil registration record," he said.

People inspect the damage as rescuers search for survivors in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 8, 2023. (credit: UMIT BEKTAS/REUTERS)

Abu Jalhoum had worked as a taxi driver in Gaza but struggled to support a growing family and left in 2010 for Turkey. There, he worked in a wood factory in Antakya, and Fatima and their children joined him once he was established.

In Antakya, life was promising for the 50-year-old father, 33-year-old Fatima and their children, Noura, 16, Bara, 11, Kenzi, 9 and Mohammad, their 3-year-old who was born in Turkey. Six months ago, they had moved to a new apartment, according to the family.

In the hours after the tremors, the extended family desperately tried to make contact, calling everyone who could offer any information. On Tuesday, they recognised the family in a photo showing them buried under the rubble, lifeless.

There are no exact figures as to how many Palestinians live in Turkey, but many, especially from Gaza, have in recent years moved to Turkey, fleeing a densely populated territory that has witnessed frequent wars that have left the economy in ruins.

The United Nations relief agency UNRWA estimates around 438,000 Palestinian refugees live in Syria.

The Palestinian Authority, which has a limited rule in theWest Bank, said it had sent a rescue mission to the impacted areas.

At the family house in Beit Lahiya, Abu Jalhoum's mother, Wedad, prayed their bodies could be returned home for burial.

"I haven't seen my son, nor his children for 12 years," the weeping mother said, dressed in black and surrounded by neighbours.

"I want my children, I want to see them and bid them farewell."

Israeli rescuers rescued a young woman on Wednesday night from the rubble of a Turkish building that had collapsed in Monday’s deadly earthquake — proving that miracles can also occur in hell.

Hell is maliciously cold, and its winds are laden with heavy dust. It’s denizens huddle around weak fires in desperate bids for warmth, the luckier take refuge in the many tents that line its outskirts.

Hell is in Kahramanmaraş — or what’s left of the Turkish city.

Cities left in ruins

Every other building has collapsed in on itself, those that stand are full of deep gouges or lack walls, revealing that these were in fact once people’s homes.

As United Hatzalah arrived in the city for their earthquake relief mission, Tarkan, a young Turkish man, pointed out the flattened apartment that his grandfather had lived in.

Turkey earthquake – a glimpse of the ECHO assessment (credit: FLICKR)

The World Health Organization is deploying expert teams and flights with medical supplies to Turkey and Syria after Monday's devastating earthquake.

Aid being sent

It will send a high-level delegation to coordinate its response as well as three flights with medical supplies, one of which is already on its way to Istanbul, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday.

"The health needs are tremendous," said Dr Iman Shankiti, the WHO representative for Syria.

The combined death toll in the two countries is currently more than 11,000 people. WHO officials have previously estimated that the toll may reach more than 20,000 deaths after the disaster.

Many thousands are also injured, Shankiti said, adding that the Syrian healthcare system was already on its knees after years of war. In Turkey, WHO representative Batyr Berdyklychev said more than 53,000 people were injured and aftershocks are continuing.

A man reacts at the site of a collapsed building in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 8, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/SERTAC KAYAR)

As well as trauma kits, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said that mental health support was also critical for survivors, as well as supporting other ongoing medical needs. WHO has released $3 million for its initial response.

The WHO incident manager for the earthquake, Rob Holden, said that many people need support with the "basics of life," such as clean water and shelter in worsening weather conditions.

"We are in real danger of seeing a secondary disaster which may cause harm to more people than the initial disaster if we don't move with the same intention and intensity as we are doing on the search and rescue side," he said.

Doctor Mohamad Zitoun spent years treating casualties from the Syrian war but has never experienced anything like the number of injured and the scale of their injuries following Monday's devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria.

"This is a huge calamity. I lived through shelling and survived massacres. This is totally different, terrifying and horrific," said the 34 year old surgeon from Aleppo, who has worked round the clock since the earthquakes in a hospital in Bab al Hawa by Syria's border to Turkey.

The hospital is in an opposition-held enclave in northwest Syria, an area which bore the brunt of Russian and Syrian bombing during the country's conflict, which killed hundreds of thousands, and where the towns are heavily populated with those who fled other areas of Syria.

"The first massive wave of patients surpassed the ability of any medical team," said the surgeon. The outpatient clinic was turned into a ward and mattresses were laid on the floor as the rooms filled with victims and despairing family members.

"Cases arriving for treatment from shelling and aerial bombing would come one after the other in small waves," recalled Zitoun. But the earthquake has seen 500 victims brought in each day, requiring dozens of operations.

A man reacts in the aftermath of an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 7, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/KHALIL ASHAWI)

Medics have rushed to treat whole families brought to hospital with head injuries, multiple fractures, spinal cord breaks, organ failure and severe crush injuries.

"Many of the injured die within an hour or two as a result of trauma shock, heart failure or bleeding, especially since the weather is cold and they would have been under the rubble for eleven or twelve hours," he added.

In some hospitals across the devastated region, courtyards have been turned into makeshift morgues where the dead are laid out in rows of body bags and people search for their relatives.

The earthquake wiped out whole families and neighbourhoods. In the nearby town of Besnaya 150 families died and in the town of Jandaris over 89 buildings collapsed with hundreds killed.

Limited resources

Zitoun said the hospital's emergency teams were running out of antibiotics, sedatives, surgical supplies, blood bags, bandages and drips, with the border to Turkey closed.

Supplies across the main hospitals in the area may not last much more than a week with few stocks of medicines having arrived in recent months and a desperate need for the resumption of aid flows from across the border to Turkey.

But there is also widespread devastation on the other side of the border in the Turkish city of Hatay.

"It's a humanitarian catastrophe on both sides," he added