KAHRAMANMARAS/ANTAKYA: International aid agencies are stepping up efforts to help millions of homeless people, many sleeping in tents, mosques, schools or cars, 11 days after a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria killing more than 42,000.
Two people were reported to have been pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday, but such rescues have become increasingly rare, leaving anger to smoulder as hope dies.
A 17-year-old girl was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed apartment bloc in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the dead of night on Feb. 6.
Footage showed her being carried away on a stretcher covered with a thermal blanket while an emergency worker held an intravenous drip.
About 10 hours later, Neslihan Kilic was rescued.
"We had prepared her grave and we asked the rescue workers to stop digging as we feared they would damage the remaining corpses under the rubble. Moments later, her voice was heard from under the ruins of the building," Kilic's brother-in-law told broadcaster CNN Turk.
Kilic's husband and two children are still missing.
The quake killed at least 36,187 people in southern Turkey, while authorities in neighbouring Syria have reported 5,800 deaths - a figure that has changed little in days.
The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $1 billion in funds for the Turkish relief operation, just two days after launching a $400 million appeal for Syrians.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speaking on Thursday in his first televised comments since the quake hit, said the response to the disaster required more resources than the government had available.
Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing.
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, who visited Turkey last week, said the people had "experienced unspeakable heartache", adding: "We must stand with them in their darkest hour and ensure they receive the support they need."
For families still waiting to retrieve relatives, there is growing anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating.
"I have two children. No others. They are both under this rubble," said Sevil Karaabdüloğlu, as excavators tore down what remained of a high-end block of flats in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, where her two daughters had lived.
About 650 people are believed to have died when the Renaissance Residence collapsed.
"We rented this place as an elite place, a safe place. How do I know that the contractor built it this way? ... Everyone is looking to make a profit. They're all guilty," she said.
Some 200 km (125 miles) away, about 100 people gathered at a small cemetery in the town of Pazarcik to bury a family of four - Ismail and Selin Yavuzatmaca and their two young daughters - who all died in the Renaissance building.
Turkey has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.
BORDER CROSSINGS
Across the border in Syria, the earthquake slammed a region divided and devastated by 12 years of civil war.
The Syrian government says the death toll in territory it controls is 1,414. More than 4,000 fatalities have been reported in the rebel-held northwest, but rescuers say nobody has been found alive there since Feb. 9.
The aid effort has been hampered by the conflict and many people in the northwest feel abandoned as supplies almost invariably head to other parts of the sprawling disaster zone.
Deliveries from Turkey were severed completely in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, when a route used by the United Nations was temporarily blocked. This week, Assad granted approval for two additional crossings.
As of Thursday, 119 U.N. trucks had gone through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam crossings since the earthquake, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters.
Many survivors have fled the disaster zones, but some have decided to stay, despite the dreadful conditions.
"We spend our days with bread, soup and meals as part of the aid sent by people. We don't have a life any more. We are afraid," said Mustafa Akan in Adiyaman, who sleeps outdoors and stays warm by burning wood in a bucket.
Reuters
Fri Feb 17 2023
People queue for free food served amid the rubble following the deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, February 16, 2023. - REUTERS
Wujudkan bank pokok tempatan, tangani isu pokok tumbang
Keistimewaan pokok tempatan terletak pada daya tahan, pengadaptasian terhadap cuaca, kualiti kepada flora fauna serta ekologi persekitaran.
Perdagangan EE Malaysia perlu langkah lebih padu, kuasai pasaran global - Matrade
Ketua pegawai eksekutif Matrade Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz berkata visi agensi itu adalah untuk menjadikan industri tersebut kalis masa depan dan mencapai pasaran global yang lebih luas.
KTMB perhalusi garis panduan tren sewaan khas
KTMB akan tambah baik dan mempertingkatkan garis panduan perkhidmatan tren sewaan khas demi kepentingan orang awam dan syarikat itu.
Bank pelaburan positif terhadap prospek KDNK Malaysia
Ekonomi Malaysia berkembang pada kadar yang lebih tinggi sebanyak 4.2 peratus pada suku dalam tinjauan daripada 2.9 peratus pada suku keempat 2023.
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [21 Mei 2024]
Antara fokus AWANI Pagi bersama Afiezy Azaman & Farhan Hakimi
- Masak mi segera di stesen minyak: Empat didakwa hari ini
- Polis siasat ancaman Jemaah Islamiyah dalam negara
- Sekitar Kapas Marang Swimathon 2024
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
- Masak mi segera di stesen minyak: Empat didakwa hari ini
- Polis siasat ancaman Jemaah Islamiyah dalam negara
- Sekitar Kapas Marang Swimathon 2024
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Sivasangari pemain skuasy wanita ketiga negara tembusi 10 terbaik dunia
Sivasangari muncul pemain wanita ketiga negara yang menembusi senarai 10 pemain terbaik selepas Nicol David dan Low Wee Wern.
Presiden IOC, CMG anugerahkan plak kepada tim media Sukan Olimpik 2024
CMG sebagai agensi penyiar utama bagi Sukan Olimpik Paris 2024, berikrar melaksanakan tugasan dan tanggungjawab yang sejajar dengan mandat.
Banjir Perak: Polis sedia kenderaan ambil, hantar pelajar SMK Alor Pongsu
Bantuan itu diberikan kepada 46 pelajar SMK Alor Pongsu yang terkandas susulan jalan dinaiki air dan tidak boleh dilalui kenderaan ringan.
Kes penyeludupan: 10 ditahan, pelbagai barangan dirampas
Seramai 10 individu termasuk seorang wanita ditahan atas pelbagai kesalahan termasuk penyeludupan hidupan liar dalam operasi khas di Selangor, Terengganu, Sarawak dan Sabah antara 14 hingga 18 Mei lalu.
Ebit Liew tidak berbaju ketika panggilan video - Saksi
Saksi kesembilaan pendakwaan kes gangguan seksual, pendakwah tersohor Ebit Lew mendakwa dirinya sering diganggu secara seksual melalui panggilan telefon.