Adiyaman, Turkey (Reuters) – Thousands of people displaced by the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago are crammed into crowded tents or lined up in the streets for hot meals on Monday. I did. final time.
Thousands of rescue workers, including Turkish miners and specialists, searched the shattered apartment blocks for signs of life with the help of sniffer dogs and infrared cameras.
In southern Hatay province, rescue workers cheered and applauded as a 13-year-old boy was pulled from the rubble.
The story of the near-miraculous rescue has been flooding the airwaves in recent days, broadcast live on Turkish television and broadcast around the world. However, tens of thousands of dead people were found during the same period. Experts said the window for such relief efforts was all but closed as temperatures dropped to -6 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit) and many buildings completely collapsed.
A senior UN official acknowledged delays in aid to victims of the Syrian earthquake, and Turkey offered to open a second border crossing on Monday to support international efforts.UN security The Board has scheduled a closed-door session on the impact of the earthquake on Syria on Monday afternoon.
In the village of Porat, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter, few houses remained. There, residents recovered refrigerators, washing machines, and other items from destroyed homes.
According to survivor Zehra Kurukafa, not enough tents arrived due to the homeless, and families were forced to share available tents. But 55-year-old farmer Fuat Ekinci was reluctant to leave his home for western Turkey, even though his home was destroyed.
Volunteers have been mobilized from all over Turkey to help millions of survivors. A group of cooks and restaurant owners served traditional dishes such as beans and rice and lentil soup to survivors lining the streets of downtown Adiyaman.
The damage included historic sites in places like Antakya on Turkey’s southern coast, a major ancient port, and an early center of Christianity historically known as Antioch. The Greek Orthodox Church in the area has launched a charitable effort to support relief efforts and raise funds to rebuild or restore churches.
Meanwhile, among the rubble of her five-story building in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, rescue workers, including miners who salvaged her tunnel with wooden posts, found the woman alive. Syrian authorities said the mother’s newborn baby, who was buried under the rubble of her home, was doing well. Baby her Aya was found attached to her dead mother by the umbilical cord hours after the earthquake. She is breastfed by the wife of the director of the hospital where she is being treated.
