Between 70 and 100 Afghan nationals are among those killed in Turkey’s deadly earthquakes – which have so far left over 6,000 dead, and tens of thousands injured.
Two sources from an association of Afghan citizens in Turkey said the victims had all lived in Antakya city.
A source from Afghanistan’s consulate in Turkey told Amu at least 200 families from Afghanistan have been affected by the earthquake.
They said however that the exact number of citizens of Afghanistan who have been affected by the quake is not yet known – mostly because they are undocumented. Sources said some of the families are from the Turkmen ethnic group in Afghanistan and have lived in Turkey for many years.
As the scale of the disaster became more apparent on Tuesday, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed.
State of Emergency
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday afternoon declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by the two major earthquakes that left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighboring Syria. On Monday, just hours after the second quake hit, Erdogan appealed to the world to send help.
Harsh conditions
A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions struggled to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings.
And residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response from the authorities to the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1999.
“There is not even a single person here. We are under the snow, without a home, without anything,” said Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya had collapsed and whose relatives are missing. “What shall I do, where can I go?” he said.
Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second 7.7 quake, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks.
Tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in cities in Turkey and northern Syria while winter weather has hampered rescue and relief efforts and made the plight of the homeless even more miserable.
Turkey’s government will however open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes, said Erdogan.
Turkish authorities meanwhile say about 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 300 km from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the south.
Syrian authorities in turn have reported deaths as far south as Hama, some 250 km from the epicenter and aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12 years of civil war.
World mobilizes to help
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Tuesday that “it’s now a race against time,” to find survivors alive.
Across the region, rescuers struggled through the night Monday and through Tuesday to find survivors, but in Antakya, capital of Hatay province bordering Syria, rescue teams were thin on the ground and residents picked through debris themselves. People pleaded for helmets, hammers, iron rods and rope.
Turkish authorities say more than 12,000 search and rescue personnel are working in the affected areas, along with 9,000 troops – but this is not nearly enough to get to people that might still be alive.
However, after Erdogan’s plea for help, teams from nearly 30 countries around the world headed for Turkey or Syria on Tuesday – while the United Nations said it was “exploring all avenues” to get supplies to rebel-held northwestern Syria.
Sebastien Gay, the head of mission in the country for Doctors Without Borders, said health facilities were overwhelmed, and medical personnel were working around the clock to help the wounded.
Among the countries to have sent in help was Russia. According to Moscow’s defense ministry, 300 military personnel deployed in Syria were helping in rescue efforts in Syria and in Turkey.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile held telephone calls with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and promised to send rescuers to both countries after the devastating earthquake. The Kremlin also confirmed that Erdogan had accepted “the help of Russian rescuers.”
Ukraine was also quick to offer assistance and according to Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs said: “Ukraine stands ready to send a large group of rescue workers to Türkiye to assist crisis response.
“We are working closely with the Turkish side to coordinate their deployment,” he tweeted.
The European Union said it mobilized rescue teams with crews from countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania. John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said the United States is deploying two 79-person urban search and rescue teams and that the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, are coordinating with their Turkish counterparts on additional assistance.
India in turn sent in two full army field hospitals with 100 medical personnel to help overwhelmed doctors treat the injured.
Even Mexico has sent in help. More than 140 personnel from the Mexican navy, army, and Red Cross flew out on an army aircraft from Santa Lucia Military airbase on the outskirts of Mexico City, and headed for Turkey Tuesday. The plane was also carrying humanitarian aid and search and rescue dogs.
Britain, Germany, Japan and France are also sending equipment, rescue dogs and search and rescue specialists but the sheer scale of the disaster is daunting.
“The area is enormous. I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Johannes Gust, from Germany’s fire and rescue service, as he loaded equipment onto a truck at Turkey’s Adana airport.
