Turkey-Syria earthquake: Survivors urgently need faster aid to ‘save lives’ – as WHO says disaster ‘overwhelmed everyone’
The World Health Organisation has said the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has “overwhelmed everyone” – amid warnings the flow of aid must be urgently sped up to save lives.
The number of people killed in both countries continues to grow and now stands at more than 33,000.
Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s executive director, said it was “misleading” to compare the impact in both countries, with so much relying on the “extent of the earthquake” and “population density”.
“There’s no question, certainly on the side of Turkey, there’s a matter of experience in terms of search and rescue, in terms of disaster response,” said Dr Ryan.
“They have had their fair share of disasters in the past – but I think what’s clear is that this disaster has overwhelmed everyone.”
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People ‘guarding their lives’
There has been criticism of the amount of aid reaching Syria – the worst-affected area is largely controlled by an Islamist group that is wary of shipments from government-held areas.
There is also only one border crossing open from Turkey to northwest Syria and the first UN convoy only reached the area on Thursday.
The WHO panel, speaking in Syria, said the country was not only battling the aftermath but also freezing temperatures and the end of a cholera outbreak.
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WHO ‘committed to supporting Syria’
Regional emergency director Dr Rick Brennan said around 350,000 people in Aleppo and Latakia were left homeless instantly and that providing care was an “enormous undertaking”.
He said many were being housed in mosques, schools, churches and centres, but that overcrowding is a problem.
“They are not acceptable conditions, so we are working with partners to look at other options,” he said.
There is also an increased risk of catching a disease due to the huge number of people and poor sanitation.
Survivors of the earthquake in the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Syria
Syrian people ‘abandoned’
The UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator, Martin Griffiths, is heading to Syria to try to urgently improve the flow of aid.
“We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived,” he tweeted on Sunday.
He told Sky’s Kay Burley that extra border crossings from Turkey to Syria must be opened urgently “to save lives”, calling it an “an open and shut case on humanitarian terms”.
Andrew Mitchell, the UK development minister, also admitted in a Sky News interview that aid Syria was “far more stretched” than in its neighbour.
He said he believed total deaths across both countries could end up being around 50,000.
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‘Extra crossing points needed to save lives’
Read more:
Eyewitness: Search for life becomes bid to honour the dead
‘Clashes’ prompt some aid organisations to pause work
Meanwhile, the amount raised by people in Britain passed £60m in just three days, the Disasters Emergency Committee said on Sunday.
The committee distributes the money among a group of leading UK aid charities.
A week on from Monday’s earthquake, the chances of more people being dug out alive – like the boy rescued after five days – is all but gone.
The focus is now on recovering the countless bodies trapped under rubble of the countless buildings that collapsed.
Some 131 people involving in the building industry have been detained or had warrants issued for their arrest, according to Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay.
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Infant pulled from rubble after 139 hours
Many of the buildings that crumbled are believed to have not been robust enough, as construction codes are rarely enforced in the country.
The justice ministry has said it will set up an Earthquake Crimes Investigation bureau.
Looting of businesses and homes has also been reported in some areas of Turkey, with the country’s justice minister saying on Sunday that 57 people had been arrested.
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President Erdogan has said thieves will be dealt with firmly, but some business owners have been seen emptying their shops.
Two German aid organisations and rescuers from the Austrian army were also forced to pause work for a time on Saturday, citing “clashes between different groups” and “shots fired” in one Turkish town.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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