In Syria, earthquake survivors sleep ‘in the freezing cold’, witnesses say

Conditions in northwest Syria are “terrifying” after Monday’s devastating earthquake, according to eyewitnesses. The quake left “whole families dead” and “survivors sleeping on the streets in the freezing cold”, the news agency said. CNN .

The Doctor. Mostafa Edo, national director of the US NGO MedGlobal spent the day distributing aid to hospitals in the northwest region of Syria. He has lived in Idlib for three years.

He claimed that what made this earthquake particularly frightening was how long it lasted.

“In the building where I live [em Idlib], my neighbor lives with his parents, both of whom have disabilities. He couldn’t leave the house during the earthquake because he had to stay by their side because they couldn’t leave the house. They had to stay in place for absolutely horrible hours when the earthquake and aftershocks hit,” explained Edo.

He added: “One of my colleagues, with whom I have been working for over five years, was killed about two years ago in Russian air strikes. I found out today that his entire family, his wife and children, passed away today when his building collapsed”.

Limited resources to treat the injured

Edo pointed out that many hospitals in the region are not prepared for emergencies like this and that his team has distributed supplies to the health facilities that receive the most patients.

There is still a huge demand for supplies such as orthopedic plates used to treat fractures, but he and his team have not been able to find enough.

“Hospitals are now starting to suffer from a lack of electricity. A large number of hospitals, which depended on Turkey’s electricity supply over the years, will now have to start relying on generators, which require diesel,” he highlighted.

Still according to the report, cities he traveled to on Monday, including Harem, Darkush, Kafr Takharim and Tal Mileh, are in “particularly difficult” situations, because paramedics cannot use heavy machinery to help with rescue operations ” due to the fear that there are still people alive under the rubble of buildings that completely collapsed”.

Khalil Ashawi, a photojournalist based in Jindayris, in northwest Syria, said that in his 10 years of covering the country’s war, he had not witnessed scenes of disaster like the ones he is witnessing now.

“It’s a disaster. Paramedics and firefighters are trying to help, but unfortunately, there’s too much for them to deal with. They can’t handle all that,” Ashawi said.

“Whole families were killed. Seven to eight people from the same family, all dead. This is the kind of situation I am seeing and hearing about today,” she added.

“It’s freezing at the moment, and there are so many people sleeping on the streets now because they have nowhere else to go,” added Ashawi.

Ashawi’s family lives in Turkey. He says that his mother and father have been missing since morning.

More than 2,700 people died and thousands were injured after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday. Authorities continue to update the death toll as rescue efforts continue.