WORLD NEWS | Schools reopen as Syrians endure devastation from earthquake

Idlib (Syria), Feb. 25 (AP) — Schools resumed Saturday in Syria’s rebel-held northwest, after nearly three weeks of closures after an earthquake devastated the area, local officials said, although many schoolchildren were harassed. shock.

Many schools were turned into makeshift shelters after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and neighboring Syria on Feb. 6 killed tens of thousands.

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The quake left hundreds of thousands of people homeless in the region, many of whom have already been displaced by Syria’s 12-year war.

As a result of that conflict, rebel-held areas have also struggled to receive much-needed humanitarian aid.

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Abdulkafi Al-Hamdou, a citizen journalist in the rebel-held area, said many students missed school Saturday because their homes were damaged by the quake and their families now live far from the school The place.

“Some students are worried about being in the building and they get nervous whenever they hear things like desks moving,” Al-Hamdou said by phone during a visit to a school.

“Many students are suffering from severe fear and anxiety. They are still in shock.”

Over the past few days, displaced people have been asked to leave the school, and many of them have moved into shelters, living in tents.

But tent prices have been soaring because of the shortage, selling for about $200, four times the pre-quake price.

In a region where more than 90 percent of the population lives in poverty and relies on aid for food and medicine, a sturdy tent with metal legs can cost as much as $400.

Education officials in the rebel-held Idlib province said the last two hours of Saturday and Sunday would be spent training students on how to evacuate buildings during the quake.

Ayesha, a resident of the town of Atareb in rural Aleppo, was among those who lost their home in the earthquake. She had to evacuate her home and live in tents.

She told The Associated Press that the temporary shelter for her extended family of 13 had to be evacuated because organizers said schools were about to start and the yard where tents had been set up had to be vacated.

“They gave us a tent at the school. Then they said the students had to go back, and they started evacuating us,” she said, like most women in the conservative district, who gave only her first name.

Ayesha has a large family and rented a small house on the edge of Atareb, but four days after they moved there, another 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck on Monday.

“The house, thankfully it didn’t collapse, but there were cracks in the walls,” she said.

“The ceiling is still there.”

The family has since pitched a tent on the street, fearing more aftershocks.

The quake killed 2,274 people and injured around 12,400 in rebel-held areas, according to the opposition Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets.

The quake also destroyed 550 structures and severely damaged at least 1,570, according to the White Helmets.

In Turkey and Syria, the total death toll from the quake is estimated to be more than 47,000 – with the vast majority in Turkey. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)