More than 20,000 people died in the violent earthquake that shook southern Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to official reports published Thursday evening. According to Afad, a Turkish relief organization, 17,134 bodies have been cleared from the rubble at this stage, and 3,162 have been counted in Syria, according to official counts, bringing the total number of deaths to 20,296.
80 hours of research
Rescuers still manage to find miracles. In Antioch, a woman trapped for more than 80 hours under a collapsed wall found the strength to cry out. Probably his last strength after having spent days without eating or drinking. This cry alerted the rescuers. After a long and meticulous work, the rescuers managed to get her out of the rubble under the cries of joy and the hugs. Because it is a real miracle that happened for one of the volunteers present on site.
“I couldn’t get any news. Thank God the people here gave me some. They heard her voice and ran to her. God bless you,” said a rescuer. Every minute counts in a region where temperatures often drop below freezing. The work is far from over in this largely destroyed city, blown away by the earthquake. Especially since the rescuers have difficulty accessing certain parts of the city, which are too fragile and above all very dangerous. Residents of the neighborhood have been waiting for many days for someone to come and save their loved ones, their neighbors. Unfortunately, still nothing on the horizon. Anger and incomprehension predominate among some residents.
25,000 local first aiders
“There is no professional team, there is no one to extricate the bodies or the survivors trapped under the rubble. So far, although it is the fourth day, no one has come. Those who came to dissuade the volunteers, they said that the building was dangerous and that we should not go in. Now we are waiting,” said a resident of the region. However, more than 25,000 local rescuers arrived on site to try to save lives. International aid is being organised, the European Union has mobilized 1,185 rescuers and 79 search dogs.