Earthquake in Syria, the testimony of an AVSI aid worker from Aleppo: “The people here are disoriented, they seem incredulous”

ROME – On the phone we reached Filippo Agostino, representative of the AVSI NGO in Syria. He had just landed from Damascus on a United Nations flight. “I saw disoriented people – said the aid worker – almost incredulous at this new curse that has fallen on this city, already battered and destroyed by the war. There are entire areas of the city destroyed again, like when bombs and bombs rained down the civilian population fled from all sides, or was hiding in the basements. So far, only in Aleppo there have been 237 dead under the rubble and 1,300 wounded. Dozens of buildings razed to the ground, some just rebuilt. The city streets – Philip reported again Augustine – are impassable because they are occupied by huge blocks of brick and concrete from the collapsed buildings.

And then there is the cholera epidemic. “But the people here in Aleppo – the AVSI representative reported again – also have to deal with cholera. The epidemic is spreading very quickly. The first cases have been registered since September 2022. In winter, with cold temperatures and the wear and tear of water infrastructure, the situation worsens and cholera spreads more.In cold weather, people find it more difficult to reach medical centers, which are few and far between, increasing the risk of not receive the right treatment in time. In Syria, the 12 years of conflict, damaged infrastructure, together with the consequences of climate change, in particular the drought of recent months, have created conditions that are nothing short of dramatic, thus allowing the epidemic to advance throughout the country. The areas most at risk of spreading cholera are the governorates in the north, on the border with Turkey. But, to date, all 14 governorates of the country have reported cases of cholera era. The latest figures, updated at the beginning of December, indicate 46,409 suspected cases, including 97 deaths attributed to cholera, with a mortality rate of 0.2%.

The work of Doctors Without Borders. After the deadly earthquakes that struck south-eastern Turkey and north-western Syria, the teams of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have received many wounded in the facilities they operate in north-western Syria. Many people who arrived at the hospital already dead. In Idlib, since the early hours of the morning, MSF teams have been treating the injured in some supported hospitals and donating emergency medical kits to other facilities in the area. MSF remains in close contact with the authorities to understand how to support both countries and people affected by the earthquake.

The staff of Terre des Hommes is present on site and is already bringing aid to the population with the distribution of hygiene kits, food and blankets. The earthquake in Syria hit several regions, with its epicenter near Aleppo and Latakia. The earthquake further hits the Syrian population already on its last legs after 12 years of incessant war, in the midst of the rigors of winter. Firefighters, civil protection and first aid volunteers mobilized immediately to assist the affected population. Rescue teams and cooperants of Terre Des Hommes they are extracting the dead and wounded from the rubble in the regions of Aleppo Lattakia, Hama and Tartous. And the casualty figures continue to rise.

In Syria and Turkey there is also Ai.Bi. The area of ​​Idlib, in North-West Syria, was also involved, where Ai.Bi. (Children’s friends) has been active since 2013 various projects for internally displaced people caused by the war. An emergency fundraiser has been activated immediately. In Turkey – humanitarian workers report – the strongest shock occurred in the night between Sunday 5 and Monday 6, with the epicenter identified in the city of Gaziantep, which is located in southern Turkey less than 100 kilometers from the border with Syria . Both countries, therefore, were hit, with damage reported from Aleppo to cities even more than 300 kilometers away (the shock was also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus). The earthquake also heavily involved the Idlib area, approximately 180 km from the epicenter. About 5 million displaced people live here, in difficult and very precarious conditions that the earthquake has further complicated with obvious consequences of humanitarian emergency.

The support of Save The Children. Thousands of victims and more than 2,800 buildings collapsed in Turkey alone. The Organization, which is assessing the immediate needs of children and their families to respond to the emergency, underlines the need for immediate intervention by the international community to provide support to thousands of people in need. Rescuers are battling the freezing cold to reach children feared trapped under rubble after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake and two other major tremors tonight struck 10 provinces in southern Turkey and devastated much of Syria , with thousands of victims, according to media reports, and forcing thousands from their homes.

Race against time to save lives. “This is one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in 100 years and has left thousands homeless at a difficult time with freezing weather and snowstorms,” ​​said Sasha Ekanayake, director of Save the Children Turkey – Schools in affected areas are now closed for one week. Our teams are moving quickly to respond to the emergency, but it is vital that the international community acts now to provide support to the thousands of people in need.”