More than 25,000 people died in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to the latest official reports released on Saturday February 11. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting the city of Sianlurfa, 21,848 bodies have been found so far in Turkey, while authorities have counted 3,553 dead in Syria.
In the morning, the Austrian army announced the suspension of its rescue operations in Turkey, citing “the security situation” which persists after the earthquake. A similar decision was taken in Germany by the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), as well as the NGO ISAR Germany, which specializes in assisting victims of natural disasters, according to a spokesperson for the NGO. .
“There have been attacks between groups”, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) a spokesman in Vienna, without further details. On the Austrian side, the eighty-two soldiers of the special relief unit Afdru (Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit) took shelter in a base camp in the province of Hatay “with other international organizations, pending instructions”, he added. They arrived on Tuesday with 45 tonnes of equipment and were able to extricate nine people from the rubble, according to a statement released on Friday.
Faction clashes
Their return to Austria is currently still scheduled for Thursday but “the situation is being examined”, said the spokesperson. On the German side, ISAR Germany and THW “interrupt their rescue operations in Turkey”a spokesperson told AFP.
“In recent hours, the security situation in Hatay province has apparently changed. There are increasing reports of clashes between different factions, shots were also reportedly fired”, he points out. German teams “remain therefore for the time being in the common base camp” And “will resume their activities” as soon as the Turkish Civil Protection “will consider the situation to be sufficiently secure”.