“We have a patient who was taken to the operating room but we don’t know what happened,” Thulin, a 30-year-old woman, said, wiping away tears as she prayed.
Nineteen hours after the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake shakes southeastern Turkey – as well as northwestern Syria – the Turkish Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) announced that the death toll now stands at 2,316while 7,340 people have been rescued from the ruins of the collapsed buildings.
Search and rescue operations in the earthquake-stricken areas continue under the light of searchlights, with the assistance of soldiers and volunteers.
The provinces of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras have been hardest hit by the fury of Enceladus, while major damage has occurred in Diyarbakır, Malatya, Elazig, Osbaniye, Kilis, Antiyaman, Sanliurfa and Adana.
At least 2,834 buildings collapsed, according to the information provided by the Turkish embassy in Athens, while more than 11,000 people were injured.
The continuous aftershocks spread terror among the residents and make the work of rescue crews in the earthquake-affected areas extremely difficult and dangerous.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was the strongest in 84 years in Turkey. In 1939, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Erzincan killed more than 33,000 people.
Today, however, nine hours after the first impact of Enceladus (04:17 local time) a new strong earthquake of magnitude 7.5 followed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared seven days of national mourning.
Next week schools will remain closed throughout the country, while in the earthquake affected areas their operation will be suspended for two weeks, as announced by the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Defense mobilized thousands of soldiers to assist in search and rescue operations, as well as sending humanitarian aid to earthquake victims.
Over 1,300 dead in Syria
At least 1,300 people were killed and more than 3,400 injured in the earthquakes that hit Syria today (the epicenter of which is located in neighboring Turkey), according to a new tally based on figures provided by the health ministry and rescue workers.
According to a statement by the country’s Ministry of Health, 593 people were killed and 1,411 injured in the areas under the control of government forces in the provinces of Aleppo (north), Lattakia (west), Hama (central) and Tartous (northwest). . In rebel-held areas of northwest Syria, more than 700 people have been killed and another 1,050 injured, according to rescuers.
Agony in the ruins of the Iskenderun hospital
Rescue teams search for survivors in the rubble of the Iskenderun (Alexandretta) state hospital, which was partially leveled by the earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
As darkness fell over the area, one injured person was pulled from the rubble. Rescuers climbed into a large pile of cement and bricks, which was once the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Despite the rain and cold, they hope to find others alive.
Generators run continuously, providing light to the area.
Many relatives of patients have gathered, waiting to hear news about their loved ones.
“We have a patient who was taken to the operating room but we don’t know what happenedThulin, a 30-year-old woman, said, wiping away tears as she prayed.
“God help us. We have already lost three relatives today, including my aunt. My uncle is there… God forbid we don’t lose him too».
In the part of the hospital that is still standing, doctors and nurses are doing their best to care for the wounded amid the chaos. As there are not enough ambulances, many arrive in private cars, dozens are lying on mattresses on the floor next to the hospital entrance.
A paramedic arrives shouting “Here comes a child… a child, a child!” and a colleague of his runs to cover it with a blanket.
An intensive care unit nurse, Merve, said she was working the night shift when the quake struck. “Suddenly, the building started shaking (…) Me and my friends didn’t try to leave, we didn’t leave the patients. Then we heard a terrible noise, the building started to collapse“, he narrated. “The stairs were destroyed, we couldn’t get out. We didn’t know at first that most of the building had fallen. But when we came out of our room, the hallway was a wreck».
Merve was saved. Colleagues and patients in the other wing of the building were not so lucky. “It’s been 15 hours, I can’t contact any of my colleagues, none of those under the debris have been pulled out. They didn’t leave their patients, I don’t know what to say“, he added.
More than 1,200 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake in Hatay Province, where Iskenderun is located. At least 520 people were killed in Hatay, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. “The old wing of the state hospital collapsed in the earthquake. The rescue effort continuessaid the minister.
RES-EMP
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