Aftermath of Syria’s earthquake | Over 6,000 Syrians ki*lled and gone missing

Chances of survival of people stranded under rubble of buildings collapsed by the violent earthquake, which hit north Syria region on February 6, have significantly lessened, especially since no medical teams or machineries were delivered for over 124 hours to support the local rescue teams. Those teams have had no options but to depend on their poor capabilities and help provided by residents, while the freezing temperature has exacerbated the situation further.

 

Meanwhile, residents have provided relief assistance to the earthquake-affected people, hosted a large number of families and buried the bodies of Syrians killed under rubble.

 

Also, medical and health centres have run full capacity and suspended non-urgent surgeries, so that they can receive the largest possible number of people injured due to the earthquake.

 

Currently, rescue teams are working on recovering bodies, whose number is estimated to be hundreds, from under the rubble, as many buildings collapsed on their occupants with the following areas having been affected the most: Afrin, Al-Bab, Jendires, Azaz, Suran Al-Atareb, Maydan Ikbis, Raju, Shalakh, Jarabulus, Ihtimaylat, Sandaf and Saju in Aleppo countryside, Atma, Sarmada, Killi, Mallas, Al-Maland, Hafrsarjah, Qurqanya, Azmarin, Zardana, Kabtah, Al-Dana, Termanin, Kafr Takharim, Salqeen, Harem, Ram Hemdan, Armanaz, Basanya, Darqoush, Isqat, Batya, Abu Talha, Al-Hamziyah, Al-Teloul and Al-Ramadiyah.

 

Moreover, tens of houses and residential blocks have sustained cracks and become no longer safe for being settled, while other buildings have sustained partial damage and are in danger of collapsing.

 

On the other hand, SOHR activists have reported that the death toll of Syria’s earthquake has risen to 4,504, as well as the injury of thousands others. The fatalities are distributed as follows:

 

• 1,971 people in regime-controlled areas.

 

• 2,533 people in areas controlled by the “Salvation Government” and the “Syrian Interim Government.”

 

The total death toll does not include victims whose relatives buried them shortly after the earthquake, even before the arrival of rescue teams, and 975 Syrians who were killed in Turkish territory due to the earthquake and whose bodies were transported to Syria.

 

According to the latest developments, the number of Syrians who have been killed due to the devastating earthquake is expected to exceed 6,000, especially since there are hundreds of missing people under rubble.

 

SOHR sources confirmed that rescue teams could not reach several villages and towns in regime-controlled areas and areas controlled by the “Salvation Government” and the “Syrian Interim Government,” while searching operations for survivors have stopped ins several areas, as rescue teams started to lose hope of finding people who may remain alive after over five days of the disaster.

 

It is worth noting that the inhabitants of tens of villages, including 21 villages in regime-controlled areas in the eastern countryside of Idlib, have buried their relatives, who were killed due to the earthquake, even before the arrival of rescue teams in these villages.

 

The violent earthquake also caused total and partial damage to buildings in nearly 120 villages, towns and cities in the middle, north-west and west of Syria.

 

SOHR sources had also reported the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy in Syrian territory, via Bab Al-Hawa crossing on the Syria-Turkey border. The convoy, which comprised 14 trucks carrying food, clothes and blankets, headed to areas controlled by the “Salvation Government” and the “Syrian Interim Government” in north-west and west Syria.

 

Hospitals throughout Syria have been running at full capacity and rescue teams have been exerting utmost efforts since Monday dawn, attempting to save and rescue the largest possible number of the earthquake victims. Also, residents in different areas in north Syria region have participated in the rescue efforts to recover people locked down under rubble, especially since no diggers, machineries or rescue teams have been sent to these areas.