Conditions in northwest Syria are “terrifying” in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake on Monday, according to eyewitnesses.
The quake left “entire families dead” and “survivors sleeping on the streets in the freezing cold,” they told CNN.
Dr. Mostafa Edo, a Country Director for the US-based NGO MedGlobal – who has lived in Idlib for the past three years – spent Monday distributing aid to hospitals across Syria’s northwest region.
He said what made this earthquake particularly terrifying was how long it lasted.
“In the building where I live [in Idlib], my neighbor lives with his parents, both of whom have a disability. He couldn’t leave home during the earthquake because he had to stay by their side because they couldn’t leave home. They had to stay in place for hours that were absolutely horrific as the earthquake and aftershocks took place,” Edo said.
He added, “One of my colleagues, who I’ve worked with for more than five years, was killed about two years ago in Russian airstrikes. I found out today that his whole family, his wife and kids, all passed away today when their building collapsed.”
Limited resources to treat wounded: Edo said many hospitals in the area are not prepared for emergencies like this, and that his team distributed supplies to hospitals receiving the largest number of patients. There is still a high demand for supplies like orthopedic plates used to treat fractures, but that he and his team couldn’t find enough to meet that demand.
“Hospitals right now are starting to suffer from electricity outages. A great number of hospitals, which were relying on electricity supplies from Turkey over the years, will now have to start depending on generators, which require diesel,” Edo said, adding that cities he traveled to on Monday including Harem, Darkush, Kafr Takharim and Tal Mileh, have been “particularly difficult” because paramedics are unable to use heavy machinery to help with rescue operations “due to fears that people are still alive under the rubble of buildings that have totally collapsed.”
Khalil Ashawi, a photojournalist based in Jindayris in Syria’s northwest, said that in his 10 years of covering the war in Syria, he hasn’t witnessed scenes as disastrous as the ones he witnessed Monday.
“It’s a disaster. Paramedics and firefighters are trying to help, but unfortunately, there is too much for them to deal with. They can’t handle it all,” Ashawi said. “Entire families have been killed. Seven to eight people from the same family, all gone. These are the sort of situations I am seeing and hearing about today,” he said.
“It is freezing at the moment, and there are so many people sleeping in the streets right now because they have no homes to go to,” Ashawi added.
Ashawi’s family is based in Turkey. He says his mom and dad, who live in Antakya, have been missing since Monday morning.
More than 2,700 people have been killed and thousands more injured after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday. Officials continue to update the death toll as rescue efforts continue.
Source link