Since a terrible 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on Monday, more than 33,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria, and the chances of finding more survivors are dwindling because of the harsh weather.
According to the most recent data, 33,181 people have passed away in both countries.
Turkey’s death toll now stands at 29,605, according to the Turkish Emergency Coordination Center SAKOM.
A total of 3,576 people have died in Syria, including 2,168 in rebel-held territory in the northwest, according to the “White Helmets” civil defense organization, and 1,408 in areas under government control, according to Syrian official media on Saturday, which cited the health ministry.
The White Helmets, who on Friday declared the conclusion of their search and rescue efforts. It was anticipated that the final death toll would be significantly higher.
In the southern Turkish province of Hatay, a 10-year-old girl named Cudi was rescued on Sunday after spending 147 hours buried in the rubble. A 35-year-old survivor named Mustafa Sargül was recovered from the rubble of a six-story apartment building in the same area after 149 hours.
As the hours pass following the earthquake, however, news of these amazing rescues has slowed.
Some global search initiatives have also been impeded by security worries.
German rescue efforts in Turkey, which were put on hold on Saturday over security worries, are still suspended “in general” for these reasons, according to the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief.
United Hatzalah, an Israeli search and rescue organization, likewise made the decision to leave Turkey after six days on the ground due to a “serious security concern”
on Sunday. Eli Pollack, the chief executive officer of United Hatzalah, and Dov Maisel, the vice president of operations, declared in a statement that they had “got intelligence of a concrete and immediate danger on the Israeli delegation and we have to put the protection of our staff first.”
“We took the appropriate precautions to lessen the threat for the sake of our lifesaving mission even though we were aware that sending our team to this region of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border, included a certain amount of risk,” Maisel said. However, some international rescue operations have picked back up.
Turkish military are providing security in the search regions, according to the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU), and a rescue dog handler is once more assisting Turkish rescuers.
An “increasingly challenging security scenario” and “increasing aggressiveness between factions in Turkey” were the reasons operations were terminated early on Saturday, according to AFDRU. Teams had resumed operations, according to a tweet from Austrian Army spokesman Michael Bauer later in the day.
82 AFDRU soldiers have been deployed since Tuesday, and they are expected to return on Thursday. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, it was the first organization to send a team to help earthquake victims in Syrian shelters with their mental health.
In a statement released by the organization, it was stated that “hundreds of children are languishing in hospitals and shelters without their family and homes among the tens of thousands of victims of the horrific earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria.”
Children have faced challenging times following the disaster. Some of them miraculously avoided death, but in addition to ensuring their physical existence, Palestinian Red Crescent psychological care teams are ensuring their psychological survival, according to the statement.
The organization’s Psychosocial Support Team organized games for kids as well as other events and activities for individuals staying in the shelters.
About 300 children and their families in shelters and hospitals are receiving mental health treatment from the Palestinian team and local volunteers as a result of the earthquake, who are suffering from extreme stress and sadness.
