after Turkey Earthquake
Entire blocks of houses in the city of Antakya were reduced to rubble
Bodies of people killed in southern Turkey’s earthquake on Monday are left on the street as the hunt for survivors continues.
More than 5,000 people are known to have died in Turkey and northern Syria, which was also devastated by the quake.
The United Nations warned that thousands of children could be among the dead.
Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 (01:17 GMT) near the city of Gaziantep.
A later quake was nearly as big, with its epicenter in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency for the ten provinces hardest hit by the earthquake.
He said the measures would allow relief workers and financial aid to affected regions, but gave no further details.
Around 70 countries are sending aid to Turkey, but in some places there is growing anger that the aid is not arriving quickly enough.
In the city of Antalyasome of the dead were left on the sidewalk for hours while rescue workers and ambulances grappled with the scale of the disaster.
Relatives of the missing combed through the rubble in search of their loved ones. A group of men using sledgehammers and other tools found the bodies of a man and a young girl trapped. They called official rescuers to help with their power tools, but they said they had to focus on the living.
The men continued digging until the bodies were freed.
Anger grows that there is not enough help. A woman told the BBC rescuers came and took photos of the building belonging to her boyfriend’s family, where they believed 11 people were trapped, but they did not return.
She said they heard voices for hours, but then it went quiet.
Further north in Kahramanmarasnear the epicenter of the second quake, aid is only arriving with a delay because the mountainous roads are blocked by those trying to walk.
Rows of buildings have collapsed in piles of rubble, which rescuers are trying to deal with while a bitterly cold wind blew smoke and dust from the rubble into their eyes.
Survivors now living on the streets must search for food and burn furniture they find to keep warm. Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing this week.
It is similar in the port city Iskenderunwhere now homeless people seek shelter in the open space away from buildings.
A woman the BBC spoke to is providing shelter to her children and grandchildren, including a six-year-old who has epilepsy. Helpers have brought them blankets and they have been given some bread, but so far there has been no other support.
“I’m devastated,” a doctor at a local hospital told Reuters. “I see bodies inside everywhere. Although I’m used to seeing bodies because of my expertise, it’s very difficult for me too.”
The port in Iskenderun has been closed until further notice due to a major fire, meaning cargo ships heading to the earthquake disaster area will be diverted.
The fire is believed to have been caused when a shipping container filled with oil overturned as a result of the earthquake and the flames then spread to surrounding cargo.
Emergency services are struggling to gain access to the site due to earthquake damage and other containers now blocking the entrance. An attempt to fight the fire with a fire boat failed.
Iskenderun Port has been closed until further notice due to a fire
There were also reports of difficulties getting aid into northern Syria, particularly in opposition-held areas. Control there is shared between the government and other opposition groups. They remain involved in conflicts as a result of an ongoing civil war.
Even before the earthquake, the situation in large parts of the region was critical: Frosty weather, crumbling infrastructure and an outbreak of cholera brought misery to many of the people living there. More than four million people, mostly women and children, were already dependent on help.
The northwest in particular has become one of the hardest places to reach, with only a small border crossing on the Turkish border available to transport resources to opposition-held areas.
The UN said Tuesday it was temporarily halting aid shipments to Syria over damage to the route, with no clear idea of when they would resume.
Syria’s UN envoy said any support must come from within its own country and not across the border with Turkey, leading those in opposition-held areas to fear it could be withheld for political reasons.
The scenes of devastation were interspersed with brief moments of hope. A baby born under the rubble near the town of Afrin was rescued after it was found still clinging to its mother, who died after the birth.
Map showing where the tremors were
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