Turkey-Syria Quake Death Toll Crosses 16000; Survivos In Peril

The death toll from the massive earthquake near the Turkey-Syrian border crossed 16000 Thursday.

The World Health Organization has warned about the possibility of a secondary disaster as a result of the aftermath of the quake.

It expressed concern that many survivors may die due to lack of shelter, water, fuel or electricity.

“We are in real danger of seeing a secondary disaster which may cause harm to more people than the initial disaster if we don’t move with the same pace and intensity as we are doing on the search and rescue,” the WHO’s incident response manager Robert Holden said at a press conference in Geneva Thursday.

Thousands of people are now living “out in the open, in worsening and horrific conditions”, he told reporters.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck near the Turkey-Syrian border in the early hours of Monday has sent thousands of people homeless as their residences were destroyed. More than 125 aftershocks struck the region.

Despite their hard work scrambling through the debris battling freezing cold, rescuers are losing hope of finding survivors who are trapped under the rubble.

“We are at a critical point… Time is running out, hundreds of families are still stuck under the rubble. Every second means saving a life. 75+ hours after the #earthquake, our teams continue search operations amid great difficulties & need for heavy machinery to remove rubble,” White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer organization, wrote on Twitter.

The first convoy of humanitarian aid is making its way to rebel-held parts of northern Syria that have been shattered by the quake, BBC reported. Hundreds of buildings were collapsed and at least 1,700 people were killed in the region, according to the UN.

Turkey said it hopes to open two more border crossings into Syria to deliver badly-needed supplies there. Meanwhile, aid is pouring from different parts of the world to support the quake survivors.

People in Turkey are the main beneficiaries because taking aid through convoys to many affected areas in Syria is logistically difficult due to the volatile security situation there, reports say.

Syria is under sanctions imposed by the West, which makes things worse.

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