The strong earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria further increased the suffering of millions of people already affected by another tragedy in the region: the civil war in the Arab country.
The region most affected by the tremors in Syria, the northwest of the country, is precisely a territory dominated by rebels fighting against the government of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The area has already been completely devastated by the bloody civil war that started in March 2011 and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, involving different groups and foreign countries, such as Russia and the United States.
The infrastructure of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces was badly damaged by the war, especially in relation to the destruction of buildings such as hospitals and health clinics.
In parts of the territory, any type of medical care is offered only by NGOs, with no state presence.
The level of destruction of this infrastructure is making the jobs of first responders and doctors dedicated to treating those injured by earthquakes even more difficult. To make matters worse, the bad weather, with very cold and rain, is also hindering the work.
The White Helmets group, a rescue service founded in rebel-held territory to treat people injured in shelling, said at least 390 people had been killed in the rebel-held area.
The White Helmets leadership appealed to the al-Assad government for help and asked that the bombing against the rebels cease so that those injured by the earthquake can be treated.
In the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a report by the Reuters news agency described a multi-story building destroyed by the first earthquake turned into a warehouse piled high with concrete, steel bars and bundles of clothes.
“There were 12 families down there. None came out. None,” said a thin young man, his eyes wide with shock and his hand bandaged.
“We were pulling people out ourselves at three in the morning,” he said, his breath visible in the cold winter air as he spoke.
Young people could be seen digging through the rubble with their hands in search of survivors. Everyone expects the death toll to continue to rise.
Source: CNN Brasil
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