Millions of homeless people overcome by the food crisis, freezing cold
Turkey-Syria earthquake Update News
More than 2.3 million people live in the areas along the border between Turkey and Syria that have been heavily affected by the earthquake. Millions of people in these areas are now homeless due to collapsed houses. They are spending the night under the open sky in severe winter. more news
Meanwhile, due to insufficient relief, a food crisis has occurred in the affected areas. The situation is such that the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed fears that many of those who survived the earthquake may die due to a lack of shelter, food, clean water, and fuel.
A strong earthquake hit the border regions of Turkey and Syria early Monday morning. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.8 on the Richter scale. It affected 10 provinces of Turkey and 4 provinces of Syria. The death toll in the earthquake has exceeded 20,000. This number was 17 thousand 134 in Turkey yesterday Thursday (Bangladesh time) till 1 pm. And 3 thousand 317 people died in Syria.
Earthquake-affected areas of Syria and Turkey are now frozen in winter. It also rains occasionally. In this extremely unfavorable situation, millions of homeless people are living under the open sky in the ruins. In the Turkish port city of Iskenderun, it can be seen that many people are trying to fight the cold by lighting a fire on the ruins of various buildings
According to Turkish government estimates, the number of people affected by the earthquake in the country is more than 13 million. And El-Mustafa Benlamil, the UN resident coordinator in Syria, said that more than 1 million people have been affected in the country.
Reuters journalist from Turkey said that the night temperature is below freezing. Those who have cars, but their houses have collapsed, are spending the night in their cars. Most homeless people stay in the open for four nights. Even though many houses are intact, they are not staying at home due to the fear of a new earthquake. Some took shelter in supermarket parking lots. Many are staying in mosques, on the side of the road. All of them are in crisis of food, fresh water and fuel. They are eagerly waiting for food, safe shelter and some warmth. Thousands of people were seen running for relief in Turkey’s Izmir province yesterday.
The government is providing hotel accommodation for the homeless in Turkey. But it is insignificant compared to the need. As many hotels as there are in the country, there are a total of 10,000 rooms. Apart from this, reaching these hotels from the affected areas is also very difficult. Yesterday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that 15,000 people have taken shelter in the hotel.
Many expressed their anger yesterday for not getting relief and shelter. Relatives of many missing persons have expressed disappointment at the slow pace of rescue operations. A Reuters reporter spoke to a man named Ibrahim Khalil about this in Jandaris, Syria’s affected Aleppo province. He said, he lost seven family members. Among them are his wife and two brothers. Khalil had a body bag in his hand. Showing the bag, he said, ‘I am waiting for the rescuers to bring out the bodies of my relatives. The situation is very bad. No relief or help is available here.’
Such allegations have also been found in Turkey. Relatives of the missing persons say rescuers do not have enough equipment. As a result, there is no speed in the rescue work. Sewerage systems in many cities have collapsed. Disruption of water supply and collapse of sewage systems have created health hazards.
In the humanitarian situation, the World Health Organization said yesterday that the challenge for relief organizations is to keep those who are alive. Many are in terrible and bad conditions. The homeless have to spend the night below freezing.
Relief has arrived in Syria
People in rebel-held areas are suffering the most in Syria due to earthquakes. On the one hand, it has become difficult for people to get relief due to the fear of insurgent attacks, on the other hand, the situation has become complicated due to the collapse of the communication system due to the earthquake. However, the UN delegation reached there yesterday with relief. They went there across the Turkish border.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government on Wednesday admitted responsibility for the deficit in dealing with the current situation in Syria. The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, said that the government does not have the equipment to carry out rescue operations. The country also blamed the civil war and Western sanctions for this.
However, Bashar al-Assad’s activity was not seen despite the responsibility. He held a meeting with ministers after the earthquake. But did not hold any press conference or address the nation.
The death toll exceeded 24 years ago
In 1999, more than 17,000 people lost their lives in an earthquake in Turkey’s Izmir and Istanbul’s eastern Marmara coastal region. This time, the earthquake on the border between Syria and Turkey exceeded that number. After Monday’s earthquake, scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) built a model and said that there is a 47 percent chance that the earthquake could kill 10,000 people in Turkey and Syria. But the damage caused by the earthquake is worse than feared.
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