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CAIRO, Egypt: Rescuers pulled a two-month-old baby and an elderly woman from the rubble Saturday as earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria, killing more than 25,000 people for five days.
Tens of thousands of local and international rescuers are searching for razed communities even as cold weather exacerbates the plight of millions of people desperately in need of aid.
However, Austrian troops and German aid workers suspended searches south of Hatay, citing a difficult security situation and clashes between local groups, without giving further details.
More than 22,000 children found alive in Turkey-Syria earthquake
Amidst overwhelming devastation and desperation, stories of miraculous survival continue to emerge.
“Is the world out there?” 70-year-old Manxi Tabak was rescued from the rubble in the southern city of Kahramanmaras, according to a video shared by state broadcaster TRT Haber. God applauds – the epicenter of Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake. Talking and crying.
A two-month-old baby was found alive in the city of Antakya 128 hours after the quake, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The world should remember those displaced by the earthquake in the Syrian city of Turkey, the UN aid chief said.
Those rescued five days after the quake included a two-year-old girl, a six-month pregnant woman, a four-year-old boy and his father, Turkish media reported.
Meanwhile, in southern Turkey, cotton fields have been turned into cemeteries as families hug each other in grief as bodies pour in for burials.
Adding to the grief, the United Nations has warned that at least 870,000 people in Turkey and Syria are in dire need of hot food. In Syria alone, as many as 5.3 million people may be displaced.
The border crossing between Armenia and Turkey opened for the first time in 35 years on Saturday, allowing five trucks carrying food and water to enter the quake-hit area.
“Clash Between Groups”
About 32,000 people were involved in the search and rescue efforts, Turkey’s disaster agency said on Saturday. In addition, there are 8,294 international aid workers.
WHO chief arrives in Syria quake-hit Aleppo: state media
However, the Austrian army suspended the aid operation on Saturday due to the “deteriorating security situation” in Hatay, an army spokesman told AFP. The two dog handlers later returned to work under the protection of the Turkish army.
Germany’s Federal Service for Technical Relief (TSW) and ISAR Germany, an NGO that specializes in helping victims of natural disasters, took a similar decision to suspend rescue operations, according to an NGO spokesman.
ISAR spokesman Stephen Hein said there were growing reports of clashes between different factions and of shootings.
The UN human rights office on Friday urged all actors in the affected areas – areas where Kurdish militants and Syrian rebels operate – to allow humanitarian aid to enter.
The outlawed PKK, considered a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies, announced a temporary halt to fighting to facilitate reconstruction efforts.
Medical assistance in Aleppo
In Syria, where years of conflict have devastated the health care system and parts of the country are under rebel control, aid has been delayed.
After the earthquake, the EU expressed its “full support” to Erdogan.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the quake-hit Aleppo on Saturday, state media reported.
Tedros said they had “approximately 37 metric tons of emergency medical supplies”.
The Syrian government said it had approved humanitarian aid to quake-hit areas beyond its control.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the Security Council to allow the opening of a new cross-border humanitarian aid point between Turkey and Syria. The Security Council is likely to meet early next week to discuss Syria.
Turkey says it is working to open two new routes to rebel-held areas in Syria.
The harsh winter temperatures have left thousands of people either sleeping overnight in their cars or huddled around makeshift campfires across the quake-hit zone.
Anger arises.
Five days of mourning and mourning over the poor quality of construction and the Turkish government’s response to the country’s worst disaster in nearly a century is slowly turning into anger.
Officials in the country said 12,141 buildings were destroyed or badly damaged in the quake.
“The damage was to be expected, but not the kind of damage you’re seeing now,” said Mustafa Erdak, a professor at Bogazici University in Istanbul.
Turkish police on Saturday detained 12 people, including contractors, in connection with collapsed buildings in the southeastern Gaziantep and Sanliurfa provinces, local media reported.
The Turkish Ministry of Justice has ordered prosecutors in 10 provinces to set up special “seismic crime investigation offices”.
Officials and medical experts said 21,848 people had died in Turkey and 3,553 in Syria. The confirmed total is now 25,401.
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