Hunger and despair surround hundreds of thousands of people in Turkey and Syria who lost their homes following the battle Terrible earthquake on 6/2.
As of regarding 10 pm on February 9 (Vietnam time), the number of reports from the authorities of the two countries shows that the total number of victims in the recent earthquake has exceeded 19,000 people (16,170 people in Turkey). United States and more than 3,000 people in Syria).
This is much higher than the 1999 earthquake of the same magnitude of 7.8 in the northwest of the country, which killed 17,000 people.
The number of victims is expected to increase even more as search and rescue operations are still racing once morest time to find people trapped in the rubble. cold weather and search and rescue operations have entered the third day.
[Đoàn xe cứu trợ của LHQ tới khu vực do phe đối lập kiểm soát ở Syria]
Officials said the quake caused regarding 6,500 buildings to collapse in Turkey and destroyed countless structures in the land that is home to regarding 13 million people.
Meanwhile, Mr. Robert Holden, the earthquake disaster management official of World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the current urgent task is search and rescue and ensure disaster survivors stay alive.
He said too many people are living in worse and worse situations, from lack of food and water to fuel and communication.
He warned that the threat of an epidemic following the earthquake might be another disaster, leaving many people in even more serious situations if the international community does not take immediate action. This is not an easy task, he admits.
In a related development, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said on February 9 that next March, the European Union plans to organize an international donor conference to support Turkey. United States and Syria overcome the consequences of the earthquake.
She emphasized the need to accelerate and strengthen at the same time the two tasks of rescuing the victims and providing them humanitarian aid./.
(VNA/Vietnam+)
