The mud inside the houses that were left standing was knee-deep
Al-Tloul, a Syrian town near the border with Turkey on the Orontes River, having escaped the 12-year civil war, was badly damaged by Monday’s earthquake and flooded today when a dam broke, forcing almost all residents to evacuate. flee in search of safe haven.
Three residents told Reuters that the quake killed 35-40 people. Most of the buildings were either demolished or damaged.
#WATCH: #Syrians fled their flooded northwestern village when a dam collapsed Thursday in the aftermath of the #TurkeySyriaEarthquake #Syria https://t.co/c0BFC2uVxy pic.twitter.com/fCRzbTHyPe
— Arab News (@arabnews) February 9, 2023
After the earthquake, locals discovered cracks in the nearby dam and tried to strengthen it using sandbags, Abdelrahmen al-Jassim said. But the rains that fell all week – and made the work of the rescue teams difficult – swelled the river.
At the time of the call to prayer, early Wednesday morning, the dam gave way and the waters covered the fields. The mud inside the houses that were left standing was knee-deep.
“Women and children now live under the olive trees, with nothing. And who to ask for help? All are destroyed. God help us,” Jassim said.
The earthquake has killed more than 3,200 people in Syria – nearly 2,000 in the northwestern provinces already facing a severe humanitarian crisis. Almost no aid has been sent from abroad, except for an initial UN convoy of six trucks that passed through the area this morning.
In Al Tloul, residents say they have been left to fend for themselves. After the earthquake only some rescuers arrived to find survivors and pull the dead from the rubble.
Firas Aziz Hawass said around 500 families were displaced due to the flood. “The water is in the houses now, there is no one left in the city. You can’t live there anymore. It’s a tragedy.”
RES-EMP
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