Ankara [Turkey], February 14: Despite many efforts, earthquake rescue in Turkey and Syria is facing many difficulties, in which the support force from Vietnam has achieved many positive results.
As of the evening of February 13, the total number of people killed in Turkey and Syria after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 2 had increased to more than 36,000 people. According to AFP, Turkish officials reported 31,643 deaths in the country. In Syria, the death toll is 4,574, according to CNN.
The opportunity is running out
Turkey's disaster response agency said more than 32,000 domestic and 8,294 foreign staff were participating in the search and rescue operation. Cases of finding people still appearing but starting to decrease while there are predictions that the death toll will continue to rise.
Yesterday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Martin Griffiths acknowledged that the rescue phase in Turkey and Syria has come to an end and that it is urgent to provide accommodation, food, psychological support for people.
In Syria, years of conflict between factions in the civil war are also hindering the delivery of aid to the northwest, which has been hardest hit, with an estimated 4 million people in need of aid before the earthquake. The area is currently controlled by opposition groups and Turkish-backed forces. For a long time, relief goods have been delivered here through a single border gate from Turkey under the consensus of the UN Security Council. However, Mr Griffiths said people in the area "are feeling abandoned" and called for more border gates to be opened to bring in aid.
The Syrian government is said to want the aid to be sent to Damascus first, and then to another region, but the opposition does not accept this. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus met President Bashar al-Assad at the weekend and said the leader was ready to open more border gates to bring aid to the northwest region, according to AFP. .
Vietnamese forces help save victims' lives
On the same day, February 13, a representative of the Police Department of Fire Protection and Rescue (C07) of the Ministry of Public Security said that after 2 days of search and rescue on 531 Street, AdiyamanMerkez, Adiyaman City (Turkey), the delegation of The Ministry of Public Security coordinated with the Pakistani army's rescue force to save the life of a 14-year-old boy and remove two bodies.
In addition to the search and rescue operation, on the afternoon of February 12, Turkish time, the delegation of the Ministry of Public Security handed over 2 tons of aid to Turkey through the Turkish Emergency and Disaster Response Agency. (AFAD). These goods will be coordinated to hospitals and medical support centers - where there is a shortage of medicine as well as emergency medical equipment.
On the same day, February 13, a delegation of 76 officers and soldiers of the Vietnamese army was present at Istanbul airport (Turkey). After completing immigration procedures, the group flew to Hatay City (Turkey) with a distance of 1,100 km. It is expected that in Hatay City, the delegation will coordinate with other international rescue forces, carry out search and rescue work under the rubble, collapsed buildings as well as provide medical assistance to the victims. earthquake.
Answering Anadolu News Agency (Turkey), Vietnamese Ambassador to Turkey Do Son Hai shared: "This is the first time the Vietnamese Government has sent a rescue team abroad. was also one of the first search and rescue teams to set foot in Turkey.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper