Turkey-Syria quakes: Thousands dead; searches ongoing

Specialist rescue teams from countries all over the world are flying out to Turkey to help find survivors in the rubble.

Many are sending specialist firefighters, medics, equipment and specially trained dogs.

Turkey says 2,316 people have been killed and 13,293 injured in Monday’s earthquakes.

Emergency services said 7,340 people have been rescued so far.

Syrians call for help as hospitals fill with earthquake survivors

Syrian doctors are calling for help as hospitals in the country fill up with hundreds of survivors of Monday’s earthquakes.

Mohammad Hamza, a co-ordinator for the aid agency Islamic Relief, was in the small town of Ad Dana in north-west Syria when the earthquake struck in Turkey this morning.

Hamza, a father of three, described the moment of panic when he felt the quake.

“I found my children were sleeping, I didn’t know what to do. Shall I wake them up or shall I leave them sleeping? » he told the BBC World Service’s Newshour programme.

“We are dying anyway! This is what I was thinking. Shall I let them be scared by the situation?

Is it going to be better under the bed? Actually, I didn’t know what to do. I just froze, I stopped, I couldn’t move. »

Mohammad HamzaCo-ordinator, Islamic Relief aid agency

Syrian death toll increases to 1,293

At least 1,293 people have been killed and 3,411 injured in Syria in Monday’s earthquakes, the government and rescue workers say.

In government-controlled areas, the toll rose to 593 dead and 1,411 injured in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, Syria’s health ministry said.

In rebel-held parts of the country’s northwest, at least 700 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured, according to the White Helmets rescue group.

US says it will not engage with Assad gov’t to deliver aid

The administration of US President Joe Biden has said it is “committed” to delivering aid to Syrians, but it ruled out reaching out to the government in Damascus, which it does not recognise as legitimate.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that Washington will not engage with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes that struck Syria and Turkey on Monday.

“It would be quite ironic – if not even counterproductive – for us to reach out to a government that has brutalised its people over the course of a dozen years now … Instead, we have humanitarian partners on the ground who can provide the type of assistance in the aftermath of these tragic earthquakes,” Price said.

World Opinions – Agencies