Earthquake in Turkey: Voice of despair from the residents of Malatya – “Send us rescue teams”

Desperate, frozen by the thin layer of snow on the ground, the relatives of victims in the Turkish city Ailmentwere expressing their anger today because, they say, they have no help in trying to locate their loved ones.

With no special equipment, not even gloves or winter clothes, they are trying to open corridors through the rubble of houses that collapsed from Monday’s earthquakes.

“There is no one here. We are in the snow, without a house, without anything,” says Murat Alinak, whose house collapsed and his relatives are missing. “What should I do, where should I go?” she says in despair.

Malatya Yesilyurt Gedik Mahallesi durum çok vahim #deprem #Malatya #malatyadeprem pic.twitter.com/BskWdgg3XC

— Derman ERGİN (@dermanergin) February 7, 2023

THE Sabina Alinak suggested that the townspeople, huddled around makeshift fires for warmth, take the rescue operation into their own hands. “My cousins’ grandchildren are there. We are here for two days. We were destroyed. Where is the state? Where have they been for two days? We beg them. Let us do it, we can save them. We can do it by our own means. If they (rescue teams) don’t come, for God’s sake, let us do it,” he said.

Turkish authorities say around 13.5 million people have been affected in this region stretching from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, a distance of 450 km and from Malatya in the north to Hatay, which is 300 km, in the south. Bad weather and damaged roads that until yesterday connected the cities where millions of people live make access difficult. It is also difficult to make an accurate assessment of the disaster and plan the aid mission.

DÜN SAAT 13:00’TEN BERİ ENKAZ ALTINDA

without kepçe ekipler bir şey yapamayız diye gelmiyor!!!

YAKINCA MAHALLESİ KENAN IŞIK CD YENİ GÜNES SİTESİ SAADET APT MALATYA YEŞİLYURT #malatyadeprem pic.twitter.com/ziBB2HUkmS

— Gizem (@gizemmerc) February 7, 2023

Ahmet Alinak said two of his nieces were trapped in a collapsed building. “There is no one here, we are all doomed. We did not expect this from the state. No matter how big the earthquake was, the mobilization of everything was necessary,” he continued.

President Erdogan earlier said authorities plan to open hotels in Antalya for the homeless to stay temporarily. Tents have been set up in Malatia to accommodate those who lost their homes.

Over 5,200 dead in Turkey and Syria – 10 cities in state of emergency

Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in the 10 provinces hit by strong earthquakes, announcing that the death toll now stands in 3,549. Based on the new report, the dead in Turkey and Syria they now amount to 5,151.

“Turkey is facing one of the biggest disasters not only in its history but also in the world,” Tayyip Erdogan said after Monday’s powerful 7.8 and 7.7 magnitude earthquakes hit the country’s southern provinces. “Experts say ‘there is no precedent in the world’ for this earthquake,” he noted.

As the Turkish president pointed out, above from 8,000 people have been salvaged from the ruins so far.

Search and rescue personnel and support personnel working in the earthquake zone amount to 53,317 people, Turkish President Erdogan said. At the same time, 5,000 health workers are being sent to the provinces of southern Turkey, where rescue operations are underway.

According to Erdogan, 54,000 tents and 102,000 beds have already been sent to the earthquake-hit areas.

Tayyip Erdogan’s “thank you”.

“We have received offers of help from 70 different countries so far, we have spoken to 18 heads of state and government who have called us on the phone, I would like to thank all our friends who have called us and sent messages to convey their support in these difficult times days… The support of the international community is valuable for us with its moral effect. I would like to thank each and every one of our brothers and sisters from across our region who stand by our nation with their prayers.”

13.5 million Turkish citizens are directly affected by the disaster

The estimate that the 7.7 Richter earthquake that hit southern Turkey early on Monday has directly affected approximately 13.5 million Turkish citizens, the Minister of the Environment stated earlier, Murat Kurum.

According to Kurum, this earthquake is the “greatest seismic disaster of the last century after the Erzincan earthquake” in 1939. As he said, 10 provinces have been affected.

“After the first big earthquake, some buildings were damaged, and with the second big earthquake, they collapsed or are ready to collapse,” Kouroum observed, acknowledging that there is difficulty in dealing with the problems, as the road networks are damaged and it is difficult to help in several areas.

The BBC reports that Turkey’s transport and infrastructure ministry said that overnight 3,400 people took refuge in trains being used as emergency accommodation.

At least 1,602 people have lost their lives and thousands have been injured in Syria from the deadly earthquakes and aftershocks that occurred in neighboring Turkey, the Syrian authorities and rescuers operating in the rebel-held areas announced earlier.

Twenty-three million people across Turkey and Syria are affected by the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Gaziantep province, the World Health Organization says, adding that this number includes about one million children.

The United Nations children’s agency said today that the earthquake and aftershocks that have destroyed huge numbers of buildings in Turkey and Syria may have killed thousands of children.

RES-EMP

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